Worst Case Scenario
by clcman
Summary: Stranded. Trapped. Hunted. MIA and fighting for their lives. The Light finally decides to eliminate the Team once and for all. AU of "Usual Suspects."
1. Plots

**DISCLAIMER: **ME NO OWN YOUNG JUSTICE. ME MAKE FANFIC. FANFIC GOOD. LAWSUIT BAD. ME NO LIKE BAD.

Worst Case Scenario

Chapter 1: Plots

"This has gone on for far too long" began L-6. "Why do we continue to allow these _children_ to impede our plans?"

"I agree" said L-5. "They have interfered far too much already. If we have the capacity, why haven't we dealt with them?"

"But they're so much fun to play with!" said L-7. Although it was hard to tell with their faces obscured on the telescreens, several of the others gave him bizarre looks.

"Now, now" spoke L-4, her voice commanding the attention of the others. "If we destroy one team, Batman will simply send another. It would not be worth the effort of compromising them until the optimal moment."

"Until now" continued L-1, speaking for the first time. "Our plan is almost complete. If we now crush Batman's little pets underfoot, it will distract him further from the final objective. The plan has been sent to all of you as we speak."

There was a minute of silence from everyone except 7 (who was still snickering) as they read the files.

"I don't like it" said L-5. "It's too complicated. We don't we attack them at their own base? Level the compound? Engage them directly?"

"You should be familiar with the skills of one of them, and you haven't fought them as a team" said L-3. "Any plan of direct confrontation runs the risk of escape, or even defeat, as unlikely as it may seem."

"The only way to defeat heroes is to break their spirit" said L-1. "I know this from experience. Destroy them from the inside, make them doubt each other. Break their will and they are finished, no matter the physical result."

"L-7" spoke L-2. "Is everything prepared as we discussed?"

"What? Oh, that. Yeah. It's ready. All we need is magic girl and we'll be in tip-top shape." This was followed by more snickering.

"And Subject TAB-07?" asked L-1.

"Ready and prepared, thanks to our friend Parasite's... activities in Geneva" said L-3. "L-6 is present at Gemini base now and will ensure that the portal does not... get out of hand. Am I correct, 6?"

"Yes, yes! Of course the portal shall remain stable! What idiot to you think is running this place!"

"Then I shall contact the required personnel" said L-2."I believe that all three mercenaries will be happy to do the job for half their normal rates, and the last should will enjoy some fresh air, courtesy of our friend, Dr. Strange."

"3, 4," continued L-1, "it is time to put your... inside sources to work."

"Everyone. Do as we have planned and we cannot fail" said L-3. "This meeting is adjourned."

There was a slight crackling sound as each of the members shut down their video feeds.

L-7 was the last to cut out, save L-1 himself, of course. 7 was still snickering. "This is going to be great fun!" he muttered to himself. "First I'll set them on fire, then I'll put out the fire and electrocute them..."

L-1 rubbed the bridge of his nose, half wishing they had simply put the Joker as L-7. At least _he_ had an excuse for being annoying.

He leaned back in his chair as he too shut down the link. It was time to show this "team" the Light.

* * *

**Author's Note**: _Hey, everyone! Just writing another YJ fanfic to go with the 6,000 other ones on this site. On a technical note, this story takes place after the episode "_Performance_" but before "_Usual Suspects_," of which it is an AU. This is my version of how I was thinking the season was going to end, seeing as half of the team was blackmailed, brainwashed or otherwise compromised. __And as a disclaimer, I solemnly swear that this plot was created before Usual Suspects, and entirely based on information available before then._ _Except the inclusion of Rocket, just because I like her._

_Please enjoy, review, etc!_

Translation guide to the Light (spoilers!):

L-1: Vandal Savage

L-2: Ra's al Ghul

L-3: Lex Luthor

L-4: Queen Bee

L-5: Ocean Master

L-6: The Brain

L-7: Klarion the Witch Boy


	2. Assignments

**DISCLAIMER**: As a matter of fact, I do own the entire DC Universe. That's why I let everyone else use the canon and I just write stories here.

Chapter 2: Assignments

**Mt. Justice**

**December 27, 16:23 EDT**

_Recognize, Batman 02._

The team had assembled on the briefing floor, already suited up and ready to go. Batman quickly scanned to ensure they were all accounted for, blinking only for a second at the odd number before he remembered that Rocket was now a member as well.

Rocket, for her part, was personally proud that she didn't scream or faint or any of the other things her subconscious had wanted to do upon meeting _the_ Batman. She still had a bit of a headache from that morning. Who knew it was so hard to get a good night's sleep in a hollowed out mountain fortress next to the ocean?

_Come on, Raquel_ she thought. _Keep it together. You've done stuff like this before._

Except she hadn't. She'd done dangerous missions, true, and she'd even handled her own without Icon when all the adults had vanished, but never anything with a team, one full of people who were so used to going out and taking on people who could fight _Superman_ and win.

And she wasn't going to screw it up with some rookie mistake.

Batman turned to address the team and Rocket almost fainted again. Somehow, despite being a regular man who would never, ever hurt her unless she forced him to, the Dark Knight managed to be even scarier than Oblivion, the personification of death itself. Probably his stare.

Rocket turned to M'gann, hoping for one of those warm everything-is-fine smiles she was so fond of. But M'gann wasn't smiling. She seemed... sad? Almost... ashamed of something? Rocket decided she would talk to her later. Maybe she was always like this before a mission.

"So, Bats, where we going?" asked Robin. No one else ever talked to Batman like that. Not even Kid Flash. Then again, he was Robin for a reason.

"An analysis of the information Aqualad obtained while you were in Europe brought up a location: Cape Chidley, Labrador."

"Canada?" asked Robin.

"'Chidley'?" said Artemis at the same time with a hint of disgust. "What kind of name is 'Chidley'?"

Batman ignored the question, instead opening a holoscreen showing a map and several pictures of a set of buildings.

"Satellite imagery confirmed that the coordinates show a hidden facility in the uninhabited northern coast of Killiniq Island."

"Who built it?" asked Red Arrow.

"Project Cadmus."

Superboy got the sudden, inexplicable urge to punch a wall, but sadly, none were in reach.

"What would Cadmus want way up in Canada?" asked Wally, the sudden interest of his genius brain managing to temporally overpower the minor ADHD that came with superspeed reflexes.

"It appears" continued Batman "that they wished to use the facility for more advanced tests of their various... projects undisturbed." He looked at Superboy, which Robin immediately thought was unfair. Like Superboy could control where and how he was born!

"But wasn't Cadmus reformed?" asked M'gann, who had also unconsciously glanced at Superboy. "Would they really still be doing something like that?"

"We believe the base was constructed before the discovery of the full extent of their operation."

Robin and Kid Flash high-fived.

"But regardless of whether or not the current Project Cadmus is using the location, we have confirmed encrypted radio transmissions were sent from there to Parasite at the time of the Geneva... incident."

Rocket had heard about that from Zatanna. Apparently the maniac had tried to open a _black hole_ in the middle of Europe, although no one was exactly sure why. Fortunately the team had stopped him, but still...

"Parasite was not working alone" said Aqualad. "He was following orders from someone."

"And that 'someone' is at this base in Labrador" said Robin, finishing the train of thought. Batman nodded.

"Whoever it is, the League wants them. But more important than their immediate capture is simply knowing the who and why" continued Batman. "Go to this facility and discover the true nature of this threat. Stealth suits only. Be prepared for anything."

"Whatever they're up to, they were willing to risk destroying the planet to get it" said Red Arrow.

"That's some pretty high stakes" agreed Robin. "But nothing we can't handle."

"Alrighty then" said Kid Flash. "Let's head out! I want to show the new girl how we do things around here!" Rocket felt she had a pretty good idea of how Wally-as he insisted she call him-did things, seeing as he had been hitting on her for the entire two days she had been at Mount Justice. Robin had assured her that he did it to all the girls, but that didn't make her all that much more comfortable with it.

"The Bioship is ready to go, guys" said M'gann as the Team walked towards the hanger. She seemed chipper again, but there was still that earlier hint of... whatever it was. Rocket wondered if she had accidentally bumped into someone and startled them or something. M'gann seemed like the type who would feel guilty about pretty much anything. Still, she was way nicer than most of the girls back in Dakota City, or at least the ones Rocket knew.

Rocket's thoughts were quickly interrupted by Batman's hand on her shoulder. To her credit, she didn't scream, only flinch and let out a tiny squeak, which fortunately no one heard.

"Rocket" said the Dark Knight.

"Yes?" she was somehow able to say. She felt like hyperventilating.

"You're on a good team. And your mentor speaks highly of your abilities. He believes that you have what it takes to be one of the best."

"H-he does?" stuttered Rocket.

"I've read over your file. You'll do fine."

And with that Batman turned and walked away.

Rocket blinked a couple of times, not really sure what to say to what was probably Batman's first and only pep talk in the history of the universe.

"Hey, Raquel!" called out Zatanna, who was standing at the door to the hanger. "Earth to Rocket! Are you coming or not?"

Rocket took another look at where Batman had gone, but he had vanished.

She shrugged and headed for the ship.

It was mission time.

* * *

_For the record, Cape Chidley is a real place. Check Wikipedia if you don't believe me. Although the real one probably has fewer secret genetics labs built by evil corporations._

_You know, only like three. Tops._


	3. Operation

**DISCLAIMER: **Oh, wait. Is this that fanfiction website? I thought I was sending this script to the animation office to be put into the show. Sorry!

Chapter 3: Operation

_9..._

**Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada**

**17:48 ADT**

A mere two hours later, the Bioship shook slightly as it dropped back down to subsonic speeds and cloaked, leaving nine teenage superheroes to prepare for the mission.

Artemis was examining the satellite images of the compound on Robin's wrist computer.

"You have to admit, it doesn't look like all that big of a place" she said. Indeed, the "facility" consisted of only a few small buildings, no more than three stories high.

"The Cadmus lab in Washington also seemed quite small" said Aqualad. "They are adept at creating vast underground bases."

"Hey, Aqualad, check this out" said Robin, pointing to a specific part of the map. Aqualad, Artemis and Red Arrow leaned over to look at it.

"The base is on the coast. If they did make something underground, it might have an entrance underwater."

"A possibility" said Aqualad. "Can we pilot the Bioship down there to check?"

M'gann, who was working the controls from the command seat at the center of the vehicle, nodded. "We should be able to get down there."

Red Arrow shook his head. "We're too big. If they have sensors down there, they'll detect use, even if we're cloaked."

Zatanna walked over. "Then it sounds like you'll have to go by yourself, just to check it out."

"I am your leader. I will not abandon the team" said Aqualad.

"It's not abandoning" said Robin. "It's recon. If anyone else here can breath underwater, please raise your hand."

No one raised their hand, although Robin was aware that both he and Artemis had mechanical rebreathers with them. Ocean water at night in Canada in December would probably provide hypothermia in minutes to anyone who wasn't from Atlantis.

"Very well" said Aqualad. "Drop me off a mile or two south of the location. It is best to stay under the radar."

M'gann nodded and changed course, lowering altitude to a mere hundred feet above sea level, under any radar system that could possibly detect them through the Martian camouflage.

"Hey, Kalder, there's a rocky beach here, by the base" said Robin, pointing to another place on the map. "If you don't find anything, I would suggest you head up this way and approach the place on foot. You'll already be past half the security" Robin motioned to a chain link fence that surrounded the outside of the compound "and we can link up and move in from there. Sound good?"

"I believe that will suffice. Robin, you are in command while I am gone."

Red Arrow opened his mouth as if to complain about this, but seemed to think better of it.

"We're here" said M'gann cheerfully. A hole formed in the back of the ship and Aqualad lept out, landing in the dark ocean water thirty feet bellow. He surfaced momentarily to give them a thumbs up before disappearing.

"M'gann, move the ship up" said Robin. "We need to scan for any activity near the lab."

M'gann nodded and the ship pulled away, going slowly to avoid disrupting its camouflage. Superboy and Kid Flash took up positions at the rear hatch, one using supervision, the later switching his goggles to thermal. The ship's scanner's were good, but sometimes you just needed a human-or Kryptonian-eye to be sure. Artemis moved to the front of the craft, looking over the various instruments.

Rocket sat on a bench (the ship had conjured up benches as there were too many people for each to have individual chairs) and waited. Zatanna walked over, stumbled a bit and sat down next to her.

"Are you okay?" asked Rocket. Zatanna nodded.

"Just a little dizzy. It happens. It'll go away."

They sat there for a second in silence, save the hum of the Bioship as it passed over the cliffs and onto land. Robin gave a nod to KF and Superboy, who began scanning the various trees below.

"Nervous?" asked Zatanna. Rocket nodded.

"You know, I was too the first time we did something like this." She glanced at Robin.

"I'll be fine" said Rocket. "But thanks."

"No problem" said the magician, rubbing her forehead. "But you know.."

She never finished that sentence. Closing her eyes again, Zatanna slid down onto her side.

"Zatanna?" asked Rocket, concerned. None of the others had noticed yet.

Suddenly, Zatanna started shaking, convulsing. "Zatanna!" cried out Rocket, trying to hold her down.

"What is it?" asked Robin, dashing over to them.

Zatanna stopped shaking and went limp.

"Zatanna!" shouted Robin, shaking her shoulder once. Red Arrow was right behind him. The others had just started to turn around...

"M'gann! Evasive!" shouted Superboy, alerted by his superhearing. M'gann tried to respond, but there simply wasn't enough time.

Then there was a loud explosion and everything went to hell.


	4. Mayday

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Young Justice. I assume you don't, either.

Chapter 4: Mayday

_8..._

The explosion shook the Bioship. Superboy grabbed the side of the door to stabilize himself. Kid Flash was not so lucky. As the ship tilted, he tumbled forward through the hatch.

Superboy stretched forward and just barely grabbed the speedster's arm.

M'gann screamed, holding her head in her hands as she was telepathically bombarded by the Bioship's "pain". Artemis was flew forward into a control panel and fell, stunned.

Robin, Red Arrow and Rocket were thrown to the ground alongside Zatanna, who still wasn't moving. Rocket couldn't believe what she saw.

The Bioship was breaking apart.

With a loud snap, a massive crack appeared between M'gann and Artemis and the others. This new shift caused Superboy to lose his grip, sending Kid Flash plunging to earth.

The Kryptonian swung his arms furiously, trying to grab a hold of something before his weight tipped him over and he followed the speedster into the open air.

"No!" cried out Red Arrow, who was trying to brace himself and Zatanna to keep from following them.

Already distraught (heavy on the _dis_-) Robin lept forward to try and help M'gann, who was too distracted to react to the hole forming in the center of the ship, dividing it in half. Red Arrow grabbed the Boy Wonder by the collar and hauled him back as the front of the ship split away, sending M'gann and Artemis plunging into the night.

The rear of the ship flew on for a bit, still propelled by what was left of the engine before it, too began plummeting to earth.

Robin and Red Arrow both braced themselves against the opposite walls and tried to hold onto Zatanna, still not sure if she was even breathing. But one could tell it didn't really matter; none of them would survive a fall at this height anyway.

Not without some help.

Rocket grabbed a hold on the side and swung out of the spinning stern, flying far away enough to avoid colliding with a large chunk of metal before she activated her inertia belt, sending her flying straight up, leaving a glowing purple trail behind.

Rocket did a corkscrew and then overpowered the momentary exhilaration of flight in order to devote herself to a slightly more important task:

Preventing the rest of her team from dying horribly on her very first mission with them.

Rocket flew downwards, positioning herself under the spinning rear section and pushed on it with all her strength. Turning up her inertia belt to its maximum capacity, she slowly but surely lowered the ship's velocity, hopefully, just hopefully enough to not squish her on impact.

It was always hard to estimate distances when you're falling, but the ground couldn't be more than 200 feet away... 100 feet... 50 feet...

This wasn't that bad of an idea, actually. She'd seen Superman do stuff like this of TV before.

And then the inertia belt failed.

_Crap_.

It wasn't the thing's fault, really. Rocket had never pushed it so hard before. But it was _damn_ inconvenient for one's only source of upward propulsion to fail when one is still a ways above the ground and holding half a spaceship with three people in it. But that's how the cookie crumbles.

They fell.

Fast.

* * *

Meanwhile, Artemis was having a very similar problem.

She'd only blacked out for a second, but somehow in that time the entire rear of the Bioship had vanished. Artemis lept to her feet as the ground shifted and she faceplanted. Swearing briefly, the archer scrambled up the no-longer horizontal floor to where M'gann was slumped unconscious in the pilot's chair.

"M'gann! M'gann, wake up, dammit!" Artemis shouted, shaking the Martian on the off chance that would help.

And evidently, help it did, because M'gann started slowly coming to.

Way to slowly for when one is falling out of the sky.

Artemis was about to start swearing again when suddenly M'gann's eyes shot open.

_Conner!_ she telepathically broadcast, a hint of panic on her "voice".

"M'gann, listen to me! Conner's fine! We need to..."

Without warning, M'gann grabbed Artemis in a bear hug and shot into the sky. Artemis saw her eyes were glowing unusually red.

Down below, Artemis could hear an explosion as the Bioship smashed into the ground. Unfortunately, the psychic feedback seemed to reach M'gann, because she fainted. While they were still a good thirty feet in the air.

_Aw, hell_ thought Artemis.

And then they hit the ground.


	5. Bioship Down

**DISCLAIMER**: NO ME OWN YOUNG JUSTICE. Thank you.

Chapter 5: Bioship Down

_7..._

Superboy landed hard. Fortunately, by virtue of being Superboy, he was pretty much unharmed and quickly lept to his feet.

The Bioship was another story. One didn't need super-vision to see it falling from the sky, flames leaking out as it broke into pieces.

One thought filled his mind:

_M'gann_.

Superboy ripped open his pants pocket (literally) and grabbed the palm-sized case containing Luthor's shields. He only had four left, but he needed the ability to fly now more than ever.

He thumbed the button, causing the shutter to retract, and grabbed one of the patches.

Or rather, he would have.

But there weren't any.

The case was empty.

And in the second he spent staring in disbelief, the Bioship's remains slammed into the ground.

* * *

Rocket opened her eyes, which was odd, considering the last thing she remembered was falling to her death.

The second thing she noticed was that she couldn't move.

"I've got her!" shouted Red Arrow. Rocket tried to say something but she couldn't breath. There was something pressing on her chest. From what she could see, their fragment of the ship had landed right on top of her.

Red Arrow heaved and pushed the rounded metal husk off of Rocket. It rolled a few feet away and then stopped.

The archer then reached down and ripped Rocket out of the pink, sticky foam she was coated in.

"Is this yours?" she asked, shaking off the foam that was stuck to her arms.

Red Arrow nodded. "It absorbed the shock, kept us alive. Looks like it kept the ship from crushing you, too."

"Lucky me" muttered Rocket as her eyes settled on the other two people present.

Robin looked okay, with a few scratches and holes in his costume. He was kneeling over Zatanna. She wasn't moving.

"Is she...?" asked Rocket, not wanting to ask the question, not wanting to _consider_ the possibility that the member of the team who had welcomed her, had always been the nicest to her, even more than M'gann, was actually...

Red Arrow shook his head. "She's alive. But barely."

Robin stood up and turned to face Rocket.

"What happened to her? Right before she collapsed? What were her symptoms?"

"Well, uh, I don't really..."

"You were the one right next to her. WHAT WERE HER SYMPTOMS?" shouted Robin. Rocket squeaked and took a step back. The younger boy lept forward and grabbed her by the collar.

"You were right next to her! What happened!"

Red Arrow grabbed Robin by the cape and pulled him away.

"Robin!" the archer said sternly. "This isn't the time. Zatanna needs medical attention and, if you hadn't noticed, we just got shot down in the middle of hostile territory! We've only got half the team as it is! We all need to work together!"

Robin glanced down at the ground and took a few deep breaths.

"I... I'm sorry. I just, well, you know..."

Red Arrow looked at him and Rocket.

"She was poisoned" he said.

"That seems likely" agreed Robin. "Either that or some kind of magical feedback thing only she was sensitive too."

"But who would...?" asked Rocket.

"It's the mole" said Red Arrow.

"Mole? What mole?" _Why am I always the last to know about these things?_ Rocket thought.

"A while back we got a tip that someone on the team was feeding intel to the other side" said Robin. "Nothing really came of it, but..."

"If she was poisoned," continued Red Arrow, "it was almost certainly either at the Cave or on the Bioship. Which means..."

"Someone on the team did it" finished Rocket, realizing the implications.

The archer continued. "The Bioship was cloaked and they were still able to take it down. Why?"

"Because they have someone on the inside" said Robin.

"One of the nine of us is... a traitor?"

The boys nodded. "It could be anyone" said the Boy Wonder. "It could be you."

"Me?" said Rocket, her voice catching in her throat.

"You _were_ the one sitting next to her" said Robin. "And you are the newest one... You've been a hero like what, six months?"

"I'M NO TRAITOR!" shouted Rocket, stamping her foot for good measure. It was somewhat childish, but really! Being accused of being a spy? This was not how her first mission was supposed to go.

"Or Miss Martian" said Red Arrow.

"Oh, come on, Roy" said Robin. "Would she really blow up her own ship?"

"Guys!" shouted Rocket, stamping her foot again. "It doesn't matter! We need to find the others, get this girl some help and then there's still the actual mission to do! Now how is this conversation helping us do any of that?"

Robin and Red Arrow exchanged looks.

"You're right" they both said. Robin bent down to check on Zatanna again.

"We need to move" said Red Arrow. "Someone will come looking for the wreckage"

Rocket glanced around at the dark woods from which hordes of baddies could come pouring out any second.

"Can we move her?" he asked Robin.

"I think so. She's out cold, and with all the tumbling she did in the crash, I doubt we can make it any worse."

"Rocket?"

"Sorry" said Rocket, a little sheepishly. "My belt is tapped out. I don't know when it'll work again. These two hands are all I've got."

"Old fashioned way it is, then" said Robin. "There's a hill over that way with some bushes we can use for cover. I say we move over there and then try to contact the team. Okay?"

"Okay" was the reply. Rocket grabbed Zatanna's arms, Red Arrow took her feet, and they ran.

* * *

Superboy threw the shield case to the ground and stomped on it, crushing the metal into pieces.

"Useless piece of junk!" he shouted, unsure of whether he was talking about the case or himself.

There had been four shields in there. He'd counted last night. _So why weren't there any now!_

Superboy stopped for a second and took a few deep breaths, using the calming technique Black Canary had taught him.

Obviously, someone had done something with the shields. That means the person had to know about them.

That meant they worked for Luthor.

Obviously this had been part of his plan. Get Superboy dependent on the things and then make sure he doesn't have them when things go to hell. Make him weak.

_Well, I'm sorry, Lex_ he thought. _But I was doing this way before I got your little shields._

* * *

Aqualad swam through the cold, dark December waters. It was hard to see, but he had confirmed that there did not appear to be any usable undersea hatches. In fact, there hadn't really been anything down there at all. Unfortunately, he seemed somehow unable to contact the rest of the team by radio. He considered calling the Watchtower, but figured it best to surface first and attempt to make contact again.

Aqualad broke the surface of the water. The moon was almost full and gave a reasonable illumination of the area. Between rocky cliffs was the beach Robin had pointed out on the map. Beyond that was a forest of large trees.

"Team, this is Aqualad. Come in" he spoke into his radio.

Nothing.

"Team, this is Aqualad. Robin, Red Arrow, Miss Martian, can you hear me?"

Static.

Then something broke through.

"Aqualad, this is Superboy."

"Superboy? What's going on?"

"Not sure. We got hit by something. Bioship's down."

"What? That's impossible! Is anyone else alright?"

"I don't know. I fell out a ways from the crash site. Haven't been able to contact anyone else. I'll go look for them."

"Not yet, Superboy. Are you near the coastline?"

"Not too far, yeah."

"I will meet up with you. We will search for the others together. Is that understood?"

"I got it, Kalder. I'll meet you by the beach. Superboy out."

Aqualad dove under the water again, swimming towards the shore as fast as possible.

If the team had gone down when he was not with them... how could he explain to Aquaman?

How could he explain to Batman?

Aqualad reached the beach and ran over the sand as fast as his webbed feet could carry him.

Normally he would have avoided the beach. Too obvious of a place for traps.

Normally, he would have climbed up one of the shorter cliffs, which would have just taken another minute.

Normally, his entire team hadn't just been shot down while he was elsewhere.

The sand in front of him exploded, sending Aqualad flying into the air.

He landed hard and rolled, stunned but still grabbing for his waterbearers.

He heard the _zing_ of two hovering red disks.

He felt intense pain as they poured electricity into his body.

He lowered his arm and went limp, playing dead.

A lone, dark figure emerged from the shadows, holding the signature strapped-to-body system of Apokoliptan weapons.

The silhouette alone was recognizable in the moonlight. The hated enemy of his people.

Black Manta.

Aqualad swung the one waterbearer he could reach forward, extending his will to the ocean beside him.

A massive wave of saltwater flew up onto the beach, smashing into and engulfing the man.

Aqualad somehow, _somehow_ got to his feet, stumbled forward, his body still shaking from the pain of the electric disks.

The enemy was stunned, his weapon knocked aside. Aqualad pointed his waterbearer at the man and managed to say one word.

"Surrender."

Black Manta slowly pushed his weapon aside and put up his hands towards his face.

No, not his face.

His helmet.

And with the press of a button, he removed it, revealing his face.

Aqualad screamed.

From Black Manta's wrist came a harsh red light.

And then everything was still.

* * *

_Wow. I love writing conversations between **R**obin, **R**ocket and **R**ed Arrow._

_Just saw "Auld Acquaintance" (or whatever they call it) and man, was that intense.  
_

_So intense that I'm trying to work out how to fit this back into canon with it. I think in all likelihood I can say that everything save "Usual Suspects" works into WCS canon. Except maybe one or two other things I was planning on...  
_

_Also got some ideas for a sequel. I'll try and keep new parts coming at this pace or close to it.  
_

_Also, for some reason, it seems like is removing certain italics or question marks whenever I save the document. Go figure.  
_


	6. Dominos

**DISCLAIMER**: Young Justice is owned by DC. So, if you want to use it, please contact General Washington. Thank you.

Chapter 6: Dominos

_6..._

Robin, Red Arrow and Rocket took cover in the bushes.

This was actually the third set they had gone to, but Robin wanted to make sure they where far enough away from the crash site to avoid detection.

Finally, they set down Zatanna (who was showing no change in condition) and took a moment to rest.

Red Arrow was on the radio, trying to contact the Watchtower, the Cave, the Canadian Government, anyone.

Nothing.

Robin took a second to mess around with his wrist computer (which had been damaged in the fall) before reactivating it.

He pulled up a map of the area with nine glowing dots laid over it.

"Okay, I've still got approximate locations and vital signs from the team's transmitters" said Robin.

The dots were in five groups: One white and one red dot farthest inland to the west, three white dots surrounding a red dot a little bit north of that, and then one white dot on its own, one yellow dot not too far from it and one last white dot out near the coastline. The computer took a second to assign a name to each dot.

"What do red dots mean?" asked Rocket.

"Health critical" replied Robin. "Yellow is injured, red is down."

"But they're all still alive, right?"

"For the moment" replied the boy. Labels appeared on each of the dots.

The group of four dots in the middle was, of course, them, Zatanna being the red dot. The dots further west were Artemis and M'gann. The other two white dots were Aqualad and Superboy, the yellow being Kid Flash.

"Hey, Artemis? Can you read me?" said Robin into the radio.

"I don't think that'll work" began Red Arrow. "I can't raise anyone."

There was some static, followed by a reply.

"I'm here! Are you guys okay?"

Robin grinned at Red Arrow. "_You_ aren't a genius. Besides, they're probably jamming our long-range coms anyway. Short-range is way harder to block."

Red Arrow rolled his eyes and took over on his radio. "Artemis. What's your situation?"

"Oh, well, you see, we was just flying along when there was this big explosion and we started falling out of the sky. You know. Boring stuff. How are _you_ guys doing?"

"Not the time for sarcasm. What's M'gann's status?"

"I think she's okay, but she's out cold. She pulled me out of the ship and then passed out in midair and then I... uh... landed on her." Rocket winced. Having had half of the ship fall on her, she could definitely sympathize with the Martian girl on that one.

"Artemis, we're about half a mile north-east of your position" said Robin. "Can you move M'gann over here?"

"I don't know, I moved her away from the crash site but I think she's a little heavy to drag that far."

Suddenly there was an explosion over the radio.

"Crap!" screamed Artemis. "I've got bad guys, incoming!"

Robin and Red Arrow looked at each other. Robin nodded.

"Artemis, this is Red Arrow. I am coming to you, over. Do you copy?"

"Hurry!" replied Artemis. "They're everywhere!"

Red Arrow took one last look at the map and then sprinted off.

Robin and Rocket stared after him until they couldn't see him anymore. Then Robin's radio beeped again.

"Artemis?" he asked.

"Uh... no" replied a sarcastic voice which could only belong to a certain Wally West, AKA Kid Flash.

Sure enough, the yellow dot marked 'Kid Flash' had turned white again.

"KF! Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. Must have blacked out when I landed. What I miss?"

Rocket, by virtue of her particular style of superheroing, knew a fair amount about falling long distances and figured Wally was lucky he had some resistance to impact from his superspeed powers. Otherwise, he would have had a lot worse than a ten minute nap.

"KF, the whole team is scattered across the area" said Robin. "I think Superboy and Aqualad are close to your position. I'm with Rocket and Zatanna but RA ran off to help Artemis and M'gann. Do you see anything?"

"No, man. It's pretty dark out here. Wait! Hold on."

Another voice appeared on the radio.

"This is Superboy. What's the situation with you guys?"

"We're okay but Artemis and M'gann are under fire" replied Robin. "Have you seen Aqualad?"

"I talked with him a minute ago. He's heading to the beach to meet up with me."

"Right. You three link up and then head... Damn it!"

"What!" asked Rocket, Superboy and Kid Flash simultaneously, although at varying volumes.

Rocket glanced at the map Robin was looking at. One of the white dots had just turned red.

"Superboy! Aqualad's vitals just went critical! He needs help, now!"

* * *

"On it" said Superboy, running even faster than he had been before and leaping into the air. Stealth was pretty much blown at this point anyway. He landed, ran a few feet and then lept again.

Of the original three, Kalder had been the one who had really saved him from Cadmus by convincing him to help them. He couldn't leave the Atlantean in trouble.

And as soon as Kalder was safe, he could go help M'gann.

The Kryptonian clone landed in a mess of bushes and, finding himself unable to safely leap due to tree cover, ran straight through it and any branches in his path, battering them out of the way with his invulnerable arms.

Spotting what looked like a clearing ahead, it occurred to him that what he was running through weren't leaves... Or at least natural ones.

They were artificial, plastic.

Superboy reached the clearing and then stopped in shock.

This wasn't a natural grove of trees.

It was camouflage.

And then there was a quiet _ping_ as several automatic turrets swiveled to face him and opened fire.

* * *

Red Arrow ran fast, his heart pounding in his chest.

Artemis and M'gann. The two most likely moles.

And he was abandoning the group to run out and save them.

The hero complex thing was really getting kind of old.

"Artemis? Can you read me?" he said into his radio.

Static.

"Artemis! Come in!"

Nothing.

Closing in on what he was sure was the location, he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, ready to engage.

The wreckage from the front of the Bioship had landed hard. Parts of it were still on fire, giving the area an eerie red glow.

Red Arrow stopped, scanning the area, bow raised.

There was no one there.

The archer swore. Of course he would get there too late!

And then there was a slight _crack_ behind him.

Red Arrow whirled around, but a bolo arrow struck his chest, wrapping it in tight rope, pinning his arms to his side and causing him to drop his bow. The bowstring snapped forward and launched his arrow into a tree, which exploded.

He lept to the side, avoiding a gas arrow and ducked behind another tree, pulling out the knife he kept in his boot and cutting through the bolo.

The archer turned and darted towards the next tree, trying to avoid being an easy target. A shadowy figure swung down from another tree and landed next to him.

Red Arrow lashed out with his knife, but the figure parried and kicked him in the chest.

Red Arrow stumbled back, trying to regain his stance.

The figure lept up and he got a glimpse of green cloth and yellow hair.

And then a foot connected with the side of his head and everything went black.

* * *

_Wow. I got 3 reviews specifically requesting information about KF's status. I guess you guys really like him.  
_

_Too bad he has to die! Muh ha ha ha ha!_

_Just kidding. Maybe.  
_

_I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out for sure...  
_


	7. Divided We Fall

**DISCLAIMER**: Alright, I'm out of funny disclaimer ideas. I just don't own Young Justice, okay!

Chapter 7: Divided We Fall

_4..._

Superboy emerged from the fake bushes with several new bullet holes in his shirt and a good deal more frustration than when he went in.

Something that was not helped by the sudden appearance of Kid Flash.

Especially not when they collided at 80 miles an hour.

"Superboy!" said Robin over the radio. "The trackers say KF should be near you. Can you see him?"

Superboy picked himself up off the ground and glared at the speedster.

"Found him" the Kryptonian muttered.

"You two are almost at Aqualad's position. Get moving!"

Superboy gave Kid Flash one last glare and lept into the air.

It took the two of them less than a minute to reach the beach. There were scorch marks and a large crater in the sand, but no Aqualad. A quick scan with thermal vision showed what looked like several land mines buried under the sand.

"Robin! He's not here!" said Superboy.

Robin swore. "His tracker's dead. He's off our radar. M'gann, Artemis and RA are gone too."

"Then we go after them!"

"Negative. We don't know where Aqualad is, we don't even know _who_ we're fighting, but whoever they are, if they can take out Artemis _and_ Red Arrow, they can take any of us alone. And we can't risk losing anyone else."

"You think they can take me?" growled Superboy, almost offended.

"If they knew how to shoot down the Bioship then I think they know who we are, so they probably thought to bring kryptonite too. We can't rush in. We need to think."

People often told Superboy he rushed into fights without thinking. Probably because he did.

_Fighting is more than just fists and weapons_ Black Canary had said. _Knowing the smart way to fight and adapting to the situation is the key to victory_.

Kid Flash stomped the ground in anger. "That's crazy, man! We can't just leave them!"

"Aqualad's down and that means I'm in charge, Wally. I want to go after them too but we can't keep throwing people into the fight like this. They're picking us off! We _need_ backup from the Justice League, but our long-rang comms are being jammed and our radios don't have the power to get through. I don't think we even got a mayday off when we went down. No one on the outside knows anything's wrong."

_Adapting to the situation._

"Robin" said Superboy. "I ran into some automatic turrets a ways back. I think they were remote controlled. Could you hotwire something more powerful from there?"

"I guess it's worth a try" said Robin. "They probably aren't jamming their own frequencies. Might be able to learn something about what we're actually up against, too. Are the turrets disabled?"

Superboy smiled. "They are now."

"Right. I'll head over and meet you two there. But we'll need to be stealthy and I don't think we can move Zatanna anymore. Rocket's here but she's tapped out and powerless."

"Hey!" complained Rocket, though she knew it was true. She was pretty useless in a fight without her belt.

"KF, can you get back here to cover for me?" asked Robin.

"I don't know, man. You're the one with the map. Besides, it might take both of us to rig something up."

Robin sighed. "Fine. I'll be there. Be careful."

Kid Flash's mood turned serious for once in his life. "Roger that. Get here in one piece."

"That's the plan."

Robin turned to face Rocket.

"Okay. If you stay here and don't move, you should be pretty well hidden. I've got smoke bombs set up around the perimeter. If you're spotted, set them off with this"-he handed her a small detonator-"and make a break for it."

"What about Zatanna?"

"If you can, take her. If you can't..."-Robin glanced at Zatanna, and Rocket could tell he didn't want to say it-"I'd rather loose one of you than both. Just get out of here and we'll find you. Understand?"

Rocket nodded.

Robin pulled two small disks out of his belt and handed them to her.

"These are explosives. Push this button, throw it like a frisbee."

"I got it" said Rocket.

He handed her the disks along with one of his Eskrima sticks, which really required no explanation.

"Just stay hidden, okay?"

"I'll be fine, Robin. Go."

Robin gave her a quick little smile and disappeared into the trees.

* * *

Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy rendezvoused a few minutes later. True to Superboy's word, the turrets were inactive, by virtue of being ripped to pieces by one Boy of Steel.

"Nice job, SB!" said Kid Flash in a voice way too cheery for the current situation. He raised his hand for a high-five, but Superboy simply glared at him until he put it back down.

"Let's see what we got here" said Robin, examining the wreckage. "It looks like this was a hidden SAM site. These auto turrets were here to protect the main missile system."

The other two boys glanced at each other.

"It's probably what took out the Bioship" Robin added solemnly.

"Can we use it or not?" asked Superboy.

"Give me a second, SB. You did a pretty good number on this place."

"Hey, Rob, that's the antenna, right?" asked Kid Flash, pointing at a large metal rod hidden between several trees as he munched on one of the many snack bars he kept on him on missions. He went through so many that M'gann had just started making them at the Cave in her spare time, rather than buying them by the truckload.

"Yes, Wally. It's what receives the radio signals. You know, those invisible waves that go through the air."

"I know _that_. But it seems kind of big, don't you think? If this is controlled from our mystery base to the north, wouldn't a shortwave be enough?"

"Hmm. You've got a point. Maybe if the long-range antenna was used to receive..."

Robin stopped.

"What?" asked Kid Flash.

"I know how they know where we are" answered the Boy Wonder.

"Ho-" began KF but Superboy cut him off.

"Do you two hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked the speedster. Robin motioned for him to be quiet.

There was a low buzzing sound on the horizon. Hard to notice unless you were trying to or had superhearing, but still there.

"Move!" shouted Superboy, grabbing both of the other boys and hurling them away down the hill.

And then the whole world exploded.

* * *

Rocket instinctively hit the ground when she heard the explosion. Off in the distance, she could see smoke rising and hear the buzzing of an aircraft overhead.

"Guys!" she shouted into the radio. "Can you hear me? Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, come in! Guys?"

* * *

Robin and Kid Flash were lying in the dust. They couldn't have been out for more than a few seconds, but it seemed like they had woken up in a different world.

"Get up! Get up!" shouted Superboy, leaping out of the flames that were engulfing the wreckage of the SAM site. Most of his shirt had been blown off.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Wally, stumbling forward.

"Drones" shouted Robin, trying to be heard over the ringing in his ears. "They're bombing us!"

As if to prove his point, a missile slammed into the ground twenty feet from them, throwing dirt high into the air.

They ran. Fast.

* * *

"Rocket! Come in!"

"Robin! What's going on?"

"They're using our own transmitters to track us! Drop yours and run! Radio silence! Go!"

_Radio silence_ Robin berated himself. Stealth 101. Why the _hell_ hadn't he ordered it earlier?

Rocket did as she was told, dropping her radio earpiece, picking up Zatanna as best she could and preparing to hightail it out of there.

Suddenly, something moved in the trees. Rocket froze and then ducked behind a bush.

A green-clad figure emerged, her blond hair trailing behind her.

"Artemis!" whispered Rocket, sticking her head out.

"Rocket? What's going on?" the archer asked.

"Drop your radio! They're tracking it."

Artemis shifted nervously. "Yeah. I, uh, dropped it a while back. Where are the others?"

"Over where those bombs are going off! Help me with Zatanna! We gotta move!"

Artemis nodded, lifting the unconscious magician out of Rocket's arms and slinging the younger girl over her shoulder.

"Look out!" she shouted.

Rocket turned around as three floating red disks flew out of the woods behind her. She threw one of Robin's disks at them but missed and blew a large branch off a tree.

Pain.

She felt nothing but pure pain as electricity ran through her.

Rocket fell, collapsing on the ground. Where was Artemis?

Everything went dark. Rocket could hear rough hands grab her, deep voices shouting. Another explosion in the background.

And then silence.

* * *

_To be continued..._

_Also, I changed the title of Chapter 6 from "Man Down" to "Dominos." "Man Down" wasn't the original title and so I hadn't realized it came right after "Bioship Down." Just letting you know.  
_


	8. FUBAR

**DISCLAIMER**: No soy dueño _Young Justice_. Mi hovercraft está lleno de anguilas.

Chapter 8: FUBAR

3...

Boom!

Another missile slammed into the ground behind them. At this point, the constant explosions didn't actually faze them anymore, and they were making pretty good time. Running for your life will do that.

The thought had immediately occurred to Robin that no one's aim was this bad (especially not if they were using a thermal scope system) and of they were almost certainly being herded into a trap.

Of course the other option was being blown to smithereens, and that seemed a less than preferable solution.

Still, with KF running ahead and Superboy lagging behind somewhat (being the slowest of the three), they were probably spread out enough to see the trap coming and show the enemy why you don't mess with the Team. So, all in all, things weren't actually exactly as bad as they appeared.

Then Kid Flash started choking and things got much worse than they had appeared.

* * *

Wally couldn't breathe. He stumbled and then fell to his knees, coughing and retching.

He barely even reacted when Robin slammed into him, wrapping his arms around the speedster's waist and dragging him along.

"KF! KF! Get up!" shouted Robin, desperation starting to fill his voice.

There was another explosion off in the distance. For some reason, Wally found the entire situation incredibly funny.

"Wally! Stop it! Why are you laughing? Wally?"

Wally felt strong arms that surely belonged to Superboy scooping him up and carrying him.

"What happened?" the Kryptonian demanded.

"I think he's been poisoned!" shouted Robin.

In the background, Wally noticed that the explosions had stopped. Somehow that made it all even funnier.

"Like Zatanna?" asked Superboy.

"No, different symptoms. A lot worse. I think it's Joker Toxin."

"Joker what?"

"It's... Look out!" cried Robin. There was a loud grunt and the closet thing he could make to a scream from Superboy followed by gunfire.

Wally laughed. He fell suddenly and landed with a loud thud. The gunfire continued, interspaced with the sound of energy blasts.

It was all so funny, and he didn't really know why.

And then Wally let out a choking gasp and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Superboy was not having a good day.

He'd fallen out of an airplane, been sprayed with automatic gunfire, been hit with an airstrike, and failed to save Kaldur. His girlfriend was missing and quite possibly severely injured. Plus he had to carry Kid Useless while fleeing a bunch of heavily armed enemies. While the other boy was _laughing_ no less. Wally's laugh reminded him of Professor Ivo's MONQIs, and that made him mad.

And that was _before_ he got hit by the sniper.

It wasn't even a bullet, more like a speargun or something. All Superboy knew was that one second he was carrying Wally and dodging bullets (for the speedster's sake, not his) and the next there was a two foot long dart sticking out of his shoulder.

Superboy had been shot before (quite a lot, actually), and that had always hurt (a little, at least), but not like this. The dart sunk into his flesh, somehow penetrating his invulnerable skin. It hurt enough that he dropped Wally in shock. At least that stopped the laughter.

Superboy stumbled forwards before ripping the dart out of his skin. There was his blood on it, alright. The tip of the arrow broke off, but the part remaining was a dark black with tiny flakes of glowing green.

Kryptonite.

* * *

Robin threw another pair of exploding disks into the treeline, trying to keep the gunmen there off their game and unable to line up the one shot it needed to end the promising careers of Dick Grayson and Wally West.

"Come on, SB!" he shouted. "We're sitting ducks out here!"

Superboy threw away the spear in his hands and shook his head like a dog, trying to clear it.

He bent back down to pick up Wally, when one of the goons wielding Apokoliptan weapons fired. A red energy beam struck the Kryptonian, sending him flying backwards.

Robin ran towards Kid Flash, who was lying unconscious on the ground, hurling everything he could grab off his belt at the enemies, trying to cover himself.

The gunfire stopped.

Robin didn't have time to question this miracle as he grabbed KF and threw the boy over his shoulder. Superboy could take care of himself, and was too big for Robin to carry anyways.

Suddenly, there was a high-pitched ringing in Robin's ear and his well-trained acrobat's balance failed. He faceplanted.

Wally landed on top of him, an unnatural, distorted grin on his face, his breathing strained, wheezing.

Robin reached for his utility belt, only for his hand to be crushed under a combat boot.

It occurred to Robin why the goons had ceased fire. They didn't want to hit their own man.

He looked up at an all-too-familiar figure wearing a blue hockey mask.

The figure was waving a small headset, like the one used by Count Vertigo during the Injustice League Incident.

"Cool toy, eh, kid?"

And then Sportsmaster stomped his foot on Robin's face.

* * *

_Hey. Still working._

_I've received a complaint about whether or not Robin and KF should be horribly injured from the initial airstrike last chapter, and feel the need to clarify._

_First of all, Superboy tossed them away from the blast zone before the missile (these are laser-guided AGMs, by the way) even hit, so they were a fair distance from that._

_In addition, the shot wasn't even at their exact location to begin with, so they had some distance before the throw._

_So their injuries were the result of being thrown a ways, not blast pressure or shrapnel.  
_

_And, let's face it: Non-superpowered people can take a lot more damage without injury in Young Justice and similar shows than in real life._

_I've also heard guesses as to who the mole is. _

_I think a better question is "Who isn't the mole?"_


	9. Alone

**DISCLAIMER: **I just got the sudden, inexplicable urge to steal several million dollars and buy _Young Justice _so I can stop making these disclaimers!

Chapter 9: Alone

_1..._

Superboy groaned and tried to get to his feet, but he felt his strength evaporating. He heard Robin cry out. He thought about what these guys had done to him, to his friends, to Kalder and M'gann. It made him angry.

Several goons had appeared out of the shadows, all either holding conventional assault rifles or bulky red Apokoliptan weapons.

The area was lit with flickering orange light from some burning trees in the distance. The goons formed a small semicircle around Superboy, cutting off his escape.

Robin and Kid Flash were on the ground some feet away. Neither of them were moving.

Forty feet below, the ocean crashed onto one of the seaside cliffs.

Superboy got to his feet, anger coming off him in waves. But it wasn't blind fury, like he was used to. It was cold, calculating, mixed with determination.

He was going to survive.

And they were going to pay.

No matter what.

Sportsmaster approached. The mercenary seemed almost bored beneath his hockey mask.

"So this is the infamous Superboy" he said, unspooling his flail, a heavy metal ball on a long chain.

"They want you alive, you know. Lucky you." Sportsmaster whirled the flair above his head. "But you're pretty much unkillable. Lucky me."

Superboy took a step back, adopting a defensive judo stance, like what Black Canary had taught him.

_Control, focus, discipline._

Sportsmaster lashed out with his flail, smashing that all to pieces with a blow to the side of Superboy's head. The clone stumbled as the flail struck him again in the chest. Floating red disks shot forth from one of the Apokoliptan weapons, sending electricity surging through the Kryptonian's body.

Superboy stumbled backwards, closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. Another of the goons slammed his gloved hand into the ground, turning it to tar at Conner's feet.

The floating disks retreated as Superboy sank up to his waist. Sportsmaster approached him, whirling the flail above his head, preparing for a knockout blow.

Superboy couldn't move his legs, and even if he could, there was no where for him to run. His strength was failing him.

Sportmaster got closer.

Conner thought over the situation. If he was captured, he would probably live.

They would take him to the old Cadmus base to the north. They would try to turn him into a mindless weapon. That was what Luthor had wanted. The sole reason he even existed. He would have purpose again.

_No._

Superboy shook his head, throwing that idea out of his mind. He _did_ have a purpose now. There was helping people, that school bus on the bridge, those kids when the dimensions split. His friends: Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Artemis, Red Arrow, Zatanna, even Rocket, who he'd only known for a few days. Black Canary, Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, even Batman.

And M'gann. M'gann most of all.

He was not going to lose all that, not to become a mindless _thing_ like they wanted.

Sportsmaster raised the flail high above his head.

He was Conner Kent.

He was Superboy.

And he was _not_ going back to Cadmus.

Superboy smashed both his fists into the ground. Even weakened by kryptonite exposure, his strength was still enough to crack the weathered stone that made up the cliff.

Sportsmaster jumped back as the ground rumbled. Already damaged by the nearby airstrikes and further weakened by the Apokoliptan tar weapon, part of the cliff fell away, taking the Boy of Steel with it.

He struck a rock, and then another, and another, each hurting more than the last. He hit the ocean, which was freezing but surprisingly calm. He could feel the tar slipping away from his legs, unable to stick together when submerged.

And then he got the sudden urge to breathe.

* * *

Sportsmaster looked over the edge of the cliff. There was no sign of the Superboy, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that that meant he was dead.

"Contact Black Manta" he said to one of his men. "Have him search the water for any trace of him. See if you can get the drones to do another flyby with thermals." The other man nodded and opened up a radio channel.

A helicopter touched down nearby, and several of the men began loading the unconscious and restrained Robin and Kid Flash.

Sportsmaster looked the situation over before transferring command of the area over to another and boarding the chopper himself.

It was time to have a little chat with this "team"... and his daughter, of course.

* * *

Superboy emerged near the beach where Kaldur had gone missing. Remembering the land mines he'd detected earlier, he carefully skirted the edge of the beach, staying on the rocks as much as possible.

There where lights off in the distance, no doubt searching for him.

Superboy put hand to the wound in his shoulder, which was still splattered in blood. No doubt the kryptonite in the blade had interfered with the healing. Or maybe Kryptonians just didn't have good blood clotting. He didn't really know.

He stumbled again. The tip of the arrow had broken off when he ripped it out: Some of it was still inside of him, sapping his strength. It was only his human DNA, his _Luthor_ DNA that was keeping him going at all.

The team was gone and he was outnumbered and powerless. Superboy had never really used profanity (it wasn't part of his Cadmus training) but he was pretty sure that this was the time for it.

He stumbled again, tripping and rolling down a small hill.

He tried to get up, but only found the strength to get to his knees. Crawling blindly forward, he managed to reach the cover of a bush.

Then the weakness he felt spreading through his veins overpowered him, and the darkness closed in.

* * *

_**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**: Following this chapter, I am putting this story on short hiatus. I've got a bunch of real life stuff piling up, and these daily updates are taking up time I don't really have. Hopefully I can start working again next week._

_I've planned this story out, and I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going with this. It looks like it will end up with about 32-33 chapters total, so we're about a third of the way there._

_I'm also considering a sequel and have several potential ideas. In fact, I think I'll make a poll on my profile of the ideas._

_White Martians_

_An AU of "Auld Acquaintance"_

_An Assault on the League of Shadows base on Infinity Island  
_

_An Operation in Bialya to capture Queen Bee  
_

_Icicle Jr. being pursued by the League of Shadows for knowing something about the Light's plans.  
_

_ALL OF THE ABOVE!  
_

_Whatever it ends up being, I can guarantee that it will contain the most dangerous villain of all time. Who? Well, I'm not saying _just_ yet...  
_

_Feel free to submit your ideas too!  
_


	10. MIA

DISCLAIMER: I may be back, but I still don't own Young Justice. Sorry. Working on it.

Chapter 10: MIA

_Justice League Watchtower-1 Computer Mainframe._

_Search Query "JL CTF-1"_

_File Located_

_JUSTICE LEAGUE COVERT TASK FORCE 1- AKA "The Team"_

_Personnel Status Updated._

_Name: Kaldur'rhm "AQUALAD" B-02_

_Place of Birth: Shayeris, Atlantis_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

**The Watchtower**

**December 29, 23:42**

_Name: *CLASSIFIED* "ROBIN" B-01_

_Place of Birth: Gotham City, Connecticut_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter filed into the Watchtower control room. Batman was already there, rapidly typing on a keyboard.

"What's going on?" asked Green Arrow, rubbing his eyes. "Why'd we have to zeta up here in the middle of the night? Couldn't you just call?"

_Name: Wallace 'Wally' West "KID FLASH" B-03 _

_Place of Birth: Central City, Missouri_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

"No."

Typical Batman.

_Name: Conner Kent "SUPERBOY" B-04_

_Place of Birth: Cadmus Labs, Washington DC_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

"What has happened?" asked J'onn, feeling it best to get to the point. The reply was blunt. "The Team is in trouble."

_Name: M'gann M'orzz "MISS MARTIAN" B-05_

_Place of Birth: Terachi, Mars_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

"What?" demanded all four of the other Justice Leaguers, with various degrees of emotion.

_Name: Artemis Crock "ARTEMIS" B-07_

_Place of Birth: Gotham City, Connecticut_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

"Their transmitters are off. The Bioship is not responding."

_Name: Zatanna Zatara "ZATANNA" B-08_

_Place of Birth: New York, New York_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

"Then they've gone dark. It is a stealth mission, isn't it?" said Green Arrow. Batman glared at him for a second, questioning the archer's understanding of the concept of stealth (after his disastrous team selection for the New Orleans mission) before turning back to the computer screen. He tapped two buttons and pulled up several aerial images.

_Name: Roy Harper "RED ARROW" B-06_

_Place of Birth: Star City, California_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

"High-altitude unmanned surveillance imagery has confirmed multiple explosions and at least two MQ-9 Reaper drones firing at targets on the ground, as well as what appears to be at least one surface-to-air missile launch. Advanced radio jamming technology is in play, but what little telemetry is available isn't good. I've only been able to find signals from four transmitters and three of them registered critical health, indicating moderate to severe injuries. No information on the rest."

He gave that a second to sink in.

_Name: Raquel Ervin "ROCKET" B-09_

_Place of Birth: Dakota City, Minnesota_

_Location: Cape Chidley, Labrador, Canada_

_Status: Missing in Action_

"Should we do something?" asked Canary.

"As I understand it, the Justice League has thus far avoided undue interference with the Team's efforts to prevent the appearance of being… overprotective" said J'onn.

"But if they're in danger, we need to help them!" shouted Green Arrow, his voice echoing through the (fortunately) empty halls of the Watchtower.

_Personnel File Closed_

"That's why I called you four" said Batman. "You are the members of the League the team trusts the most, with the possible exception of Captain Marvel, who is… unavailable."

It was _way_ past Billy Batson's bedtime, and he really wasn't the right personality for such a mission either.

"If the remainder of the League learns of this, it could mean the end of the Team" continued the Dark Knight. "I want to do this fast and do it quietly."

The others nodded. Batman glared at Green Arrow again. "That means don't talk about it. To anyone."

"Okay, okay!" the archer replied, raising his hands.

"What do you wish for us to do?" asked Red Tornado.

"The situation is still developing, but there is a Zeta Tube in Quebec City. We'll go there and fly towards the area. By that point, whether further action is required or not should be clear."

"'We?'" asked Black Canary.

Batman stood up.

"I'm coming with you."

* * *

_Hello all! I AM BACK PEOPLE! My real life stuff has been dealt with and I should be able to update on this a bunch now! _

_You may notice my little dig at Green Arrow's decisions in "Insecurity". I mean really, Artemis, Red Arrow and Aqualad were good choices, they did explain why Robin was unavailable and leaving Superboy was definitely a good call, but seriously? Picking Kid "Not Subtle" Flash over the invisible shapeshifter who allows the team to communicate without risk of interception and the reality-altering magician who can cast illusions? Good call Ollie._

_Sorry, had to rant a little._

_In other exciting news, I have decided to expand this into a series, containing at least 5 (and possibly more) stories. Fun all around!_

_I also saw the new season premiere, and frankly, I'm a little whelmed. It seems like it could have some good potential, and I do have faith in the writers, but without either a) a heck of a lot of flashbacks or b) a time paradox (preferably both) it seems like the audience will have to spend more time getting caught up than actually enjoying the plot._

_Although, it also means that there is nothing in Season 2 so far to interfere with the story I have outlined! Huzzah!_

_Also, for the record, I made up Zatanna and M'gann's birthplaces since there really isn't all that much mentioned in canon. Similarly, I made up "Justice League Cover Task Force 1" because there isn't a true name for it in the canon (though "Young Justice" is almost certainly _not_ it) and they need something better than "the Team" to put on the forms. _

_Well, enough from me. Time to get back to writing. Bye!_


	11. POWs

**DISCLAIMER:** I totally own Young Justice. Also, today is not Opposite Day.

Chapter 11: POWs

Robin's head hurt.

Well, pretty much all of him hurt, but his head especially.

A mercenary stepping on your face will do that.

To make things worse, he was confined in a _very_ familiar way, trapped in a vertical glass coffin, his arms strapped above his head.

In a way, he should have expected that. It was a _Cadmus_ base after all.

And they'd thought to take his gloves, too. Pity. His best lockpick was in there.

Looking around, he could see Rocket, Red Arrow and Aqualad confined in a similar manner. They seemed unharmed, though Aqualad appeared to have some scorch marks on his uniform.

The room was small, not more than twenty by twenty feet with most of the space taken up by five containment pods lined up on one wall. One was empty, the others filled with four young heroes.

A control panel stood on the floor in the middle. A closed metal door was the only other thing visible.

Zatanna, Wally, M'gann, Artemis and Superboy were nowhere to be seen.

_Maybe they got away _Robin thought.

Well, probably not Zatanna, unless she'd made a miraculous recovery from her mystery illness, KF had passed out from Joker Toxin, and his last memory of Superboy was him being blasted away, so...

The thought hit him.

_Damn no! Please don't be dead! They can't be! Don't do that to me! Not after Mom and Dad...  
_

No. They weren't dead. He refused to believe that until he saw evidence to the contrary. Maybe they were just being held somewhere else.

The other three began stirring.

"Guys? You okay?" asked Robin.

"Ow..." moaned Rocket as she returned to consciousness and glanced around.

"Wh-where am I?" she shrieked, thrashing around uselessly against the restraints. "Let me out of here!" Obviously, being the newest hero of the four of them, she was the least used to being captured and put into deathtraps. A tiny bit of claustrophobia didn't help.

Normally, Robin would have expected Aqualad to try and calm her down with a few stoic words. However, the Atlantean seemed distracted, staring down at the floor muttering "It can't be true" to himself. Maybe the apparent repeat of the Cadmus fiasco was taking its toll on his confidence in his role as leader.

"Rocket" said Robin. "Take some deep breaths, okay? You're going to be alright."

Rocket inhaled and exhaled, once, twice. "How on earth does this picture scream 'alright' to you?" she asked, but in a more normal, sarcastic manner, which was good.

"Don't worry. I've been tied up like this before. We got out of it."

_Of course, I had my gloves with the lockpicks built into the fingers then_ he thought but did not say.

Red Arrow was the last one to wake up. His pod was at the far end of the room next to Robin's, limiting his visibility. "Robin?" he whispered.

"I'm here. Rocket and Aqualad are too. You okay?"

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse." Robin figured this was probably true, but Roy looked like he was going to have a rather large bruise on his chin.

"I need to tell you something" the archer said. "Ar..."

"Now, now. What do we have here?" a shadowy figure interrupted from the doorway. "Four little heroes in need of someone to save them?"

Red Arrow, Robin and Aqualad all froze as they heard the familiar, mocking voice.

The archer narrowed his eyes. "Cheshire."

"Oh, you remember me. And here I thought it was just a one-night stand, arrow boy" teased the masked assassin as she stepped into the light.

"Who are you?" demanded Rocket, who was really tired of being out of the loop on these things.

"Her name's Cheshire. She's an assassin for the League of Shadows" said Red Arrow.

"We have dealt with her before" added Aqualad, who seemed to have snapped out of his... whatever it was.

"Come now, boys" said Cheshire, walking forwards. "My job is so much more than that. There's the espionage, and the kidnapping, the occasional bit of torturing and sometimes even an escort service!"

"What do you want, Cheshire?" asked Red Arrow.

"Oh, I just thought I'd check on you all. See if you needed anything to make your stay more comfortable."

Rocket rolled her eyes. Cheshire was one of _those_ types of baddies, wasn't she?

Two men in hoods walked past the door, moving what looked like a dining cart. Robin only got a glance at it, but what he say made his eyes widen behind his mask.

"What did you do to him?" he shouted, unable to control himself.

"Huh? Oh, that" said Cheshire, turning around and motioning for the two men to come back. Through the door, the four members of the team could see a large, close to seven foot long cylinder, its top completely coated in bluish crystal.

Only it wasn't crystal.

It was ice.

And trapped inside, they could clearly see the reddish hair and freckles of a certain Kid Flash.

The entire group gasped.

"Don't worry about him" said Cheshire, motioning to the men to keep moving. "He's alive, and I'm sure you'd much prefer him this way to laughing his head off. Of course, Dr. Icebox downstairs will be happy to give you all a very... personal look at the process soon enough."

Red Arrow glared at her. "You don't scare me" he said.

Cheshire walked over to the control panel and pressed a button. Electricity poured into the four from their wrist shackles, causing them to scream and writhe in pain.

"You don't have to scare me, Speedy-boy" said Cheshire.

"It's. Red. Arrow" he replied somehow through gritted teeth.

"Whatever. All you have to do is remember who has this little button." She released it and the pain stopped, leaving the Team members gasping for breath.

"Aww..." said Cheshire in a cutesy voice. "Did I hurt the little hewoes? Are they confused? Are they racking their little brains trying to figure out how this all happened? How we stupid villains outsmarted them?"

"Stop" came another voice from the doorway. "Don't say it, sis."

The new arrival stepped into the room, her yellow-blond hair snaking down over the bow at her back.

"Artemis?" said Cheshire.

The archer gave an evil grin.

"I want to tell them about it myself."

* * *

_I. Went. There.  
_

_Note: Upon receiving a complaint from the eagle-eyed Verbalalchemist, I have changed Wally West's real name in the previous chapter's database from "Walter" to "Wallace", which is apparently the correct canon name. I apologize for the error._

_I also really, really wanted to name this chapter "Bankruptcy" for some reason._


	12. The Beast

**DISCLAIMER:** Kroloteans are about to succeed in conquering the world. Therefor, the question of whether or not I own Young Justice is moot.

Chapter 12: The Beast

Superboy was tired. Really tired. He just wanted to lie there for eternity and never get out of bed.

He felt something nudge him gently, but he was too tired to figure out what it was.

He was dreaming. They were fairly good dreams. He'd picked up M'gann and flown her to the sun (which made perfect sense at the time) and then Wally had somehow gotten there too, but somehow that just made things better, which was odd, since he normally couldn't stand the guy.

He rolled over, shifting in the comfortable sheets of his bed.

M'gann reached out to him. He stared into her eyes, and then...

...And then the thought occurred to him.

He wasn't in his bed.

He wasn't at the Cave.

He was lying on the ground in the middle of Canada with fragments of a kryptonite arrow coursing through his body.

And his team needed him.

Superboy opened his eyes. Standing above him was what he could only really describe as a monster, or maybe a really, really weird Genomorph.

It was six feet tall and pale white, its skin stretched over a bony skeleton, with bits of reddish muscle here and there. It had a pointed skull, deep red eyes and rows of sharp teeth. There were two long, twisty fingers where the hands should be.

And it was grabbing his shoulder.

Superboy reacted to this as most anyone would (or at least anyone with combat training and super-strength). He cried out, smacking the ghostly hand away from him and swinging his legs around, knocking the monster's out from under it. It fell with a guttural shriek.

Superboy lept to his feet and smashed his fist down at its head. (Offense was the best defense, he'd always said) The creature rolled out of the way, surprisingly agile for its size. It came out of the roll crouching on four legs and lept into the air. Superboy prepared to block an attack on the way down, but his opponent did no such thing.

It grabbed a tree branch in its long fingers and swung, flying twenty feet away from him. The kryptonian charged, but it jumped into the air again and disappeared.

Superboy stopped and thought for a second. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't natural on Earth. And it was probably the best lead he had as to what was going on here. Besides, for all he knew, it could be heading back to a nest or a hive or something to get reinforcements. Or maybe it was just waiting for him to let his guard down and take him from behind.

Regardless, he needed to follow it.

And it might be faster than him, but it didn't have super-vision.

* * *

The creature stopped about ten minutes later. It hunched behind a tree and curled up into a ball, though for what purpose Superboy couldn't tell.

He rubbed his hand. In his ten months of existence, he hadn't punched very many things that had hurt him. The Amazo robot, Blockbuster, that time he had stupidly tried to smash through 40 feet of reinforced concrete just to see if he could. But for some reason, a simple punch into the dirt had left his hand feeling sore.

It didn't take long to figure out why. The kryptonite was draining his powers. He wasn't sure what the long-term effects would be, but he'd heard that Superman had once nearly died of a kryotonite bullet.

_Well, I'm not Superman_ he thought.

Another thought had dawned on him. While he had been assuming that this creature was hostile, all it had really done was touch him while he was unconscious on the ground.

They were near an old Cadmus base. Maybe it was some kind of Genomorph that had escaped or something.

In that case, it was a brother.

Superboy emerged from the bushes a few feet from the creature. It spun to face him, startled.

The clone put his hands up in front of him in the most non-threatening way he could manage.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Conner. Can you understand me?"

The Genomorph (if that was what it was) took a step back and then turned to run. Conner jumped forwards and grabbed its arm.

"_No!_" came a telepathic shriek that echoed through his head. Superboy let go in shock and the creature stumbled and fell forwards.

The telepathy shouldn't have surprised him, especially not if it was a Genomorph, but he knew it wasn't.

He would recognize that "voice" anywhere.

The same voice from his dreams, the one that had restored the shattered pieces of his mind back in the Bialyan desert.

The voice from all the private conversations they'd had, both on missions and of a... personal nature.

The creature, no, the alien looked up at him, realization in its (_her_) eyes.

Finally, after a moment, he had the strength to ask the question, but only a whisper, to confirm what he already knew to be the truth.

"M'gann?"

* * *

_So on, so forth._

_I wish to clarify with regards to verbalalchemist pointing out my error with Wally's name: This is good. All of you continue to inform me if you discover anything wrong with this story. If it's intentional and part of the AU, I'll ignore it.  
_

_And have you guys ever seen what happens when you try to write super-vision as one word?  
_

_I've gotten a lot of comments on the last chapter of "WHYYYYYYYY!" Trust me. This will all make sense eventually. Maybe. Depends on if I feel like it or not.  
_

_Also, for the record, I have an official list of "Major Plot Twists and Revelations" for this story. There are at least ten, depending on your exact definition of twist. We've hit two.  
_

_This is gonna be fun...  
_


	13. Judas

**DISCLAIMER**: Thanks to the Team, the Kroloteans have been defeated and royally stomped into the ground. However, I cannot take credit for this, because I still don't own _Young Justice_. Sorry.

Chapter 13: Judas

The four prisoners each took the news differently.

Red Arrow looked angry, like he was wishing he'd shot Artemis back in that alley when he'd first confronted her after she'd joined the Team. Probably because he was.

Aqualad seemed resigned, like the this was one more nail in the coffin but the day wasn't actually capable of getting worse.

Rocket was more confused and shocked than anything else. She hadn't even known they'd _had_ a spy until... well, however long ago the crash had been.

Robin on the other hand, almost didn't seem surprised.

"You. Little. TRAITOR!" shouted Red Arrow. "When I get out of here, I'm going to..."

"Quiet, Roy" said Robin, cutting him off with surprising force.

"But why...?" asked Rocket, quietly.

"It's because of her family" said Robin. He turned towards Artemis. "So you decided to work for the other side like your dad. After all the things we did for you."

"Hey!" said Cheshire. "Don't forget about me!"

"Her dad?" asked Rocket.

"My dad is Sportsmaster, Cheshire's my sister" said Artemis, shrugging her shoulder. "My mom used to go by the name Huntress. So this is kind of the family business, you know how it is. Need to pick a career my family approves of."

"And you knew about this?" demanded Roy, facing Robin as best he could with his arms shackled above his head.

"Did you really think Batman would let her on the Team without a background check?" asked Robin.

"And he still let me in! How's that for dumb?" said Artemis, laughing. "The World's Greatest Detective must be getting old."

"He trusted you" said Robin, his eyes narrowing. "I trusted you."

Artemis smiled. She _smiled_. She'd betrayed the entire Team and she was _smiling_.

"Well, look where that got you" she said, shrugging.

"So that's why you sabotaged the mission in New Orleans" said Red Arrow.

"And why you allowed Cheshire to escape when we were protecting Dr. Roquette" continued Aqualad. "Because she was your family?"

Artemis yawned, almost as if she was bored with the questions. "You have to stick with your own flesh and blood. What else is there?"

The Atlantean stared at the ground.

"What about your friends?" shouted Rocket. "What about helping people? What about doing what's right?"

"You know, heroes always talk about 'what is right' and all that junk. The hypocrisy of the whole 'better than you' act makes me sick."

"So it was all an act" said Robin. "You never were a hero. Not even when you saved me back in the Cave? When I mistook one of the Reds for Red Tornado in the library?"

Artemis nodded. "I had to bail you out even then, Bird-brain" she remarked.

"Or when you saved my life in Geneva" said Red Arrow. "All of that just to trick us?"

"Well, I really didn't want to get sucked into a black hole, to tell you the truth. I hear it's not a fun way to die, and I've still got some stuff I want to do. But honestly? I save your life once, and suddenly Mr. Suspicious trusts me?"

"I was a fool" said the elder archer.

"Yeah, you we" said Cheshire, speaking for the first time since Artemis had begun.

"Tonight, you were the one who attacked me" said Red Arrow. "And here I was coming to rescue you!"

Artemis nodded. "You barely even put up a fight."

"And then you lured me out of hiding" said Rocket, putting the pieces together. "That's why they attacked us right after you showed up. _You led them there!_"

"Pretty impressive thinking there, Rocky" taunted Artemis in a way that she had definitely picked up from her sister. "But did you guys figure out that I was the one who baked a liquid form of Joker Toxin into Flash Jr.'s snack bars? Idiot never saw it coming."

"You monster" was all Red Arrow could think to say. He was stupid, stupid, _stupid, stupid_!

Rocket seemed stunned into silence at the revelations. Aqualad was still staring at the ground, in what almost looked like shame.

"Where are Zatanna and M'gann?" demanded Robin.

"The Martian didn't make it. Poor thing died in the crash" said Artemis, with something almost resembling sadness, or maybe pity. "As for magic girl, well, you'll find out soon enough."

"Why do all this to begin with?" asked Robin. "What's the endgame? Who are you all working for?"

Artemis started to open her mouth, but Cheshire interrupted. "Now, sis. We've really got to get going." Artemis nodded and they both turned towards the door.

"Wait!" said Rocket. "Why are you telling us all this?"

Artemis thought for a second.

"Well, to be honest, I doubt you'll ever see the light of day again, so I thought you should know. And I _really_ wanted to see the look on your faces when you learned the truth."

"Artemis" said Red Arrow firmly. "You won't get away with this." Robin almost rolled his eyes in spite of the situation. Cliche much?

"Watch me, arrow-boy" said Artemis with another smile as she walked out the door, Cheshire right behind her.

"Oh, and one last thing. I'm going by the name Tigress now."

And then the door swung shut.

* * *

_So. Yeah. I'm doing this.  
_

_For the record, Tigress is the comics canon supervillain name of Artemis Crock, daughter of Huntress (no, not that one) and Sportsmaster._

_Furthermore, I made some slight edits to this after I posted it the first time because I forgot something. If you are reading this than nothing has changed.  
_

_And yes, as a matter of fact I did just include pure anti-Spitfire. Because I can.  
_


	14. Always and Forever

**DISCLAIMER:** I thought I had just bought DC Comics at an auction, but it turns out it was Marvel instead. Oopsy! Anyone interested in buying a bunch of guys who call themselves the Avengers?

Chapter 14: Always and Forever

"M'gann?"

The creature (no,_ the girl!_) looked like she was about to turn and flee, but faced him and hung her head.

"Yes" she said telepathically, sounding as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders. "It's me."

"What happened to you?" asked Conner.

"This... this is what I am" said M'gann, preparing for the rejection she knew was coming. "This is my true form."

Conner lept forward and wrapped his arms around her slender body with all his might.

"Not that! The crash! The fighting! I was so worried about you!"

"Conner... I..." M'gann was at a loss for words.

"When the ship went down... I couldn't bear the thought of losing you" said the Kryptonian.

The Martian started to pull away. "Aren't you repulsed? How can you stand to see me like this?"

Conner wrapped his hands around hers. "M'gann, I was born in a laboratory. I got most of my education from psychic monkeys with horns. I'm not even a year old yet. If you think something like this could possibly change how I feel about you, you've got another thing coming."

"It's just that... on Mars, being a White living among the Green is the worst thing you can be. I've been shamed and rejected so many times... I couldn't take the chance here."

"I still love you" said Conner. "And I'm sure the rest of the Team will too."

"No!" shouted M'gann suddenly. "We can't tell them!"

"Don't they deserve to know?"

"I... I don't want to risk it. What if... what if they don't want me on the team anymore?"

Conner stared into her eyes. "M'gann. Trust me. They will."

"But... I..."

"We can talk about this later. Right now we need to help the others."

"What happened to them?" asked M'gann, almost afraid to ask.

"I'm not sure about the rest, but Aqualad was attacked and disappeared and Robin and Kid Flash have been captured by Sportsmaster. I heard Artemis was with you. What happened?"

"I... I don't know" said M'gann. "I blacked out after we lost the ship and woke up like this. I don't know why, but something's keeping me from shapeshifting. My telekinesis is gone and my telepathy is barely strong enough to talk to you right now. But I knew you were in danger. I'm not sure how."

"Allow me to fill in the details."

The two young heroes spun around to see a regretfully familiar figure standing on a thick tree branch, toying with a flail, what looked like a large grin behind his blue hockey mask.

"Sportsmaster" said Conner, anger welling up inside of him.

"We've known your secret for a while, little missy. And as it turns out, there are some wonderful cancer drugs developed by a group called Farano Enterprises that stabilize cellular structures. Including those of shapeshifters. It'll take at least half a day until the dose I gave you wears off. Combine that with some basic sedatives to keep your psychic powers under control and suddenly a scary little Martian is harmless and ready to be released into the wild."

"Why?" demanded Superboy. "If you had her captive, why did you need to let her go?"

Sportsmaster gave his flail a spin. "Why, to find you, of course. A simple hypnotic suggestion that you were in danger-thanks to a friend of mine-and we knew she'd track you down soon enough. I mean, you're dating, right? A freak of nature and a monster from another planet. How romantic!"

Sportsmaster laughed. He _laughed_. Superboy balled his fists. If his powers were at full strength, he would have lept at Sportsmaster and pounded his face into the ground. As it was, he wasn't even sure if he could make it off the ground.

The mercenary continued. "A real sob story. Too bad I have to break it up. You escaped me once, clone. Not again. And this time, I brought a friend. Doctor, if you would be so kind as to introduce yourself? Oh, wait. You've already met."

Another figure emerged from behind the tree. It was seven feet tall with a dome at the head, making it look like a cheesy villain from an old spaceman film. The figure had glowing blue tubes snaking around its body and was carrying what looked like a bazooka.

"As I understand it, the two of you are the reason for our failure at Belle Reve" said Mr. Freeze, his voice cold and mechanical. "So this could be considered... payback!"

* * *

_Hey, did anyone else get the symbolism of the last chapter being Chapter 13? Well, neither did I until a few minutes ago. Funny how that kind of thing works out._

_Farano Enterprises is a company that did business with Cadmus Labs. They appeared in the Young Justice comics series. (No, not that one, the recent one)  
_

_For the record, I don't think M'gann can speak out loud in White Martian form, but with her weakened telepathy, she can broadcast her thoughts to the general area, but can't direct them. That's why Sportsmaster could hear what they were saying.  
_

_Furthermore, I'm aware that in canon Superboy knew about her true from from "Berift," but I had no way of knowing that when I came up with this. So, in this AU, he didn't. That's all.  
_

_Also sorry if he seems OOC. I'm not that great at romantic dialogue.  
_

_Rate, review, comment, etc!  
_


	15. Breakout

**DISCLAIMER: **Own Young Justice I do. Lie often I do not. *checks to see if sky is falling* Well, then.

Chapter 15: Breakout

"Well this sucks."

Red Arrow raised an eyebrow. If the situation wasn't so dire, he'd offer Robin the award for "Understatement of the Year."

The Boy Wonder was awfully nonchalant (or, knowing him, would it be just 'chalant'?) considering they'd been betrayed by one of their friends and were shackled with their hands above their heads in the middle of an enemy base waiting for someone to come by and do horrible things to them. But that was Robin for you.

"Kaldur" said Robin. "You're the one with superpowers. Any ideas?"

"The cuffs are electronically controlled, but still have physical locks, so I doubt I could open them with an electrical surge."

"There's a sprinkler system above us" said Red Arrow. "Can you control the water in those pipes from here?"

Aqualad at the ceiling, trying to trace the system of pipes. "It is possible, but without my waterbearers, I may not have the strength to do so."

"Well," said Rocket, "unless someone has a better idea, I say go for it!" She smiled at him encouragingly.

"I will do my best" said Aqualad, briefly returning the smile.

The eel tattoos on his arms began to glow as he reached out with all his magical strength. He willed the water in the pipes to escape from their confinement, to come and aid him. He commanded it to burst forth and flood the room, to spread out and fill the void, to fulfill its natural destiny.

Nothing happened.

Kaldur tried harder. He throw all he could into it, pulling at the water with every fiber of his being.

Still nothing.

Kaldur found his strength dissolve and the glow of his tattoos fade as despair overwhelmed him. He could see it spreading to the faces of his teammates, too. Even Rocket seemed disappointed.

"Any other ideas?" asked Robin. No one answered.

Their one chance at escape and it had failed because of him. Because _he_ wasn't strong enough! Garth would have had no problem doing this. Neither would Tula. Even La'gann would have been capable of it. No other student of the Conservatory his age would have struggled here, but he had neglected his studies too much. Was he really worthy of being Aqualad?

In frustration, Kaldur pulled on the shackles with all his power, leaving deep imprints in his wrists. He was panting, and his face and arms were coated in sweat.

Perhaps what he had seen on the beach was true. Perhaps if Black Manta...

_Wait a moment_...

"Sweat" he said. It was a word and nothing more, but he realized it would be the key to getting out of here. Concentrating, he willed the droplets of sweat on his right hand to move, to flow towards the shackles. Soon, enough had gathered that he could guide it into the locks, pushing this way and that to force the mechanism apart.

The right shackle opened.

Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Aqualad immediately began pulling on the left shackle. With a better angle and the ability to use his hand instead of his wrist, the metal quickly crumbled under his Atlantean strength.

"Aqualad's free!" said Rocket, the smile returning to her face.

"Go Kaldur" cheered Robin, and even Red Arrow allowed a bit of a grin.

Pulling his right hand free, Kaldur stopped only briefly to rub the marks on his wrists before he began working on the restraints wrapped around his legs. In less than a minute, all four of his limbs were free. He was, however, still trapped inside a glass case which felt far too much like one of those fish tanks surface-dwellers were so found of.

He leaned back on the rear of the case, using his arms to steady himself as he lifted up his legs and pressed them against the glass. Using all of his considerable strength, he began to straighten his legs. The strain was too much for the bolts holding the glass in place and they broke, sending the pane falling flat on the ground with a crash.

"Someone's going to hear that" said Red Arrow.

Aqualad ran over to the control panel, only to stop in confusion as he looked over the keyboard and various buttons.

"Robin, can you use this panel to free the others?" he asked.

"Probably. I mean, I don't have my computer, but I should be able..."

The Boy Wonder was interrupted by Aqualad smashing his hand into the glass.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked, shocked, as the Atlantean continued to punch the glass, carving a good-sized hole and then grabbing the edge.

"I am freeing you" said Kaldur, pulling his hand back and ripping out most of the remaining glass. He quickly broke the younger boy's shackles.

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that" said Robin, leaping out of the pod and reaching the control panel. He began furiously typing.

"Hey, you're hurt" said Rocket, gesturing towards Aqualad's hand, which was bleeding from a large cut on the palm, courtesy of grabbing broken glass.

"I will be fine" said Kaldur, who nevertheless put some pressure on it.

"No use" muttered Robin, leaving the keyboard and pulling a panel off the side of the control station. He glanced over the various wires for a second before ripping two out.

The glass panes over Red Arrow and Rocket retracted into the floor, allowing Aqualad to free them as well.

"Nicely done" said Robin to the Atlantean, ripping off part of Red Arrow's sleeve.

"Hey! Use your own costume!" shouted the archer.

"Yours isn't Kevlar" replied Robin, wrapping the cloth around the cut on Aqualad's hand.

Red Arrow muttered something he'd rather not repeat and checked the door. It was locked, but nothing a quick kick from a very frustrated superhero couldn't handle.

"So what do we do now?" asked Rocket.

"We get out of here," began Robin, "call for backup, find KF, Superboy and Zatanna..."

Red Arrow narrowed his eyes as he finished the other boy's sentence.

"And then we take Artemis down."

* * *

_I'm leaving to go camping this weekend, so I won't be able to update tomorrow. Sunday, maybe._

_Terribly sorry for the inconvinence.  
_


	16. Nightmare

**DISCLAIMER:** I may or may not own Young Justice. But probably not.

Chapter 16: Nightmare

Pain.

There was nothing but pain.

It was everywhere, pouring into her mind from all directions.

It burned her skin, froze her bones, ripped her flesh from her limbs, and those were just the sensations she could describe. Throbbing spikes of harsh light echoed through her mind.

She tried to move, but her muscles wouldn't respond.

She tried to scream, but hear lungs wouldn't exhale.

She couldn't think, couldn't remember why the pain was there, what it was after, or if a reason even existed. She could feel it tearing away at her soul, at her very identity.

All she knew was that she couldn't let the pain win.

But even with this knowledge, the attacks came, stronger and stronger, striking again and again.

The pain battered her, driving her to her mental knees.

And then there was one final blow, and her defenses crumbled.

"Naughty, naughty. You should have learned by now... to do as PSIMON SAYS!"

There was black silence.

And she knew she had failed.

* * *

_One last chapter before I leave. Sorry if it's a little short.  
_

_This will make sense. Eventually. Maybe._


	17. Setbacks

**DISCLAIMER**: I'm currently floating upside down as I write this. I assure you this makes perfect sense in context, but that I still don't own _Young Justice_.

Chapter 17: Setbacks

_At least the hall is made of concrete_ Aqualad reflected. The constant squish of the organic floors of the lower levels of the Cadmus lab in Washington had become quite irritating over time. Unfortunately, that was about all that was going right that day.

Footsteps echoed in the next hall. Aqualad and Red Arrow pressed their bodies against the wall. The archer peeked around the corner, just in time to see the backs of two guards moving down a yet another hallway.

"Clear."

At Red Arrow's signal, Aqualad and Rocket moved forward into the next hallway. It seemed like the base went on forever, the concrete illuminated by eerie red light.

As they approached another door, there was a grunt and a thud. Red Arrow peeked inside. There were two masked goons lying on the ground, unconscious.

Robin dropped from the ceiling, a large grin on his face.

"How's the recon coming?" asked the archer, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Getting better" said Robin, searching the guard's pockets and pulling out what looked like a PDA.

"What's that?" asked Rocket.

"Hopefully, our way out of here" said Robin, messing around with the buttons. "There's got to be a map or something..."

More footsteps.

"They've got a patrol route that goes through here" whispered Robin.

Aqualad nodded. "Hide."

He started to reach down to pull the unconscious guards to the side, but there wasn't enough time. He, Robin and Red Arrow disappeared into the shadows of pillars, like they'd been trained.

Unfortunately, Rocket hadn't been.

She looked around hurriedly and then tried to back up, but it was too late. A two-man patrol rounded the corner, both wearing ski masks and wielding what looked like assault rifles.

_Aren't masked goons a little cliché?_ wondered Rocket, amazed that _that_ was the thought her brain came up with as the two men raised their weapons.

"Damn!" shouted one as they saw their fallen comrades.

"Get on the ground!" demanded the other.

Fortunately, Aqualad picked that time to come out of the shadows and punch one of them in the face, saving her from further villainous clichés.

Red Arrow came from the other side of the hall, knocking the other goon's weapon downwards and then striking him between the legs. The archer ducked as Robin leapt over his head and connected his foot with the man's sternum. He gasped for breath and fell, leaving the Boy Wonder to finish him with a quick jab to the neck.

Rocket exhaled loudly. "Thanks" she said.

"Don't mention it" said Robin in his totally-not-serious-enough-for-the-situation manner.

Rocket silently smacked herself for needing to be rescued. _Again._ Between being an easy target here, falling for Artemis's trick in the woods and letting Zatanna get captured, she'd been nothing but a burden to the Team. The only help at all she'd given had been when the Bioship went down and she tried to catch it. And then her belt had failed, leaving her powerless. Rocket silently promised herself to take judo classes or whatever as soon as this was over. If Red Arrow and Robin could fight without superpowers, so could she.

The boys quickly disabled the men's weapons, save the second one's taser, which Red Arrow took. "Not as good as a bow, but still workable."

The group dragged the four unconscious goons into a nearby empty room before continuing.

"It says we're six stories underground, but there should be an elevator... here" said Robin, studying the PDA he'd stolen.

"Well there isn't" said Red Arrow, using his incredible powers of stating the obvious.

Robin looked around at the empty halls and then back at the map. "Maybe I didn't orient this right..."

"Should we ask for directions?" asked Rocket.

Twenty minutes and two more sets of guards later they finally found a door marked "Exit." According to the map (and one of the guards who had been so helpful after Red Arrow put a boot on his neck) the door was the only way into the next area, which contained a way to the surface.

It was oddly enough, not guarded. Nothing set off Robin's "this is a trap" sense like an unguarded exit, but they didn't really have a choice.

Preparing for the worst, the four positioned themselves on the sides of the door.

"Ready?" whispered Aqualad. The rest nodded and the Atlantean kicked the door down.

No alarms, no guards, not even a strong lock. There was nothing except another hallway, this one lined with glass panels, though it was too dark to see what was in them.

The four entered, eyes sweeping for signs of an ambush. The fact that the four superhero prisoners were in an incredibly unguarded section of the base was not lost on them.

So yes, it was certainly a trap, though the exact logic of laying a trap for people who'd already been captured evaded them.

Ahead, they spotted a table. A single blue light hung above it. On it were Rocket's inertia belt, Red Arrow's bow and quiver and Robin's utility belt.

"It's a trap" said Red Arrow.

"We know it's a trap" replied Robin. "But what can we do about it?"

Aqualad looked around at the corridor. Off in a corner, he saw something familiar. There was writing on the wall. Atlantean writing. Instinctively, he took a few steps towards it.

"Kaldur?" asked Rocket.

Kaldur knew it was a bad idea, but somehow he couldn't stop himself.

Robin started to reach out for him, but stopped, and even took a step back. He noticed Rocket and Red Arrow were doing the same.

Aqualad kept walking towards the writing. He could see it clearer now and instinctively translated it into English.

"Foes of the Light... shall fall" he said.

There was a buzzing noise and a glowing blue field of energy sprang from the walls in between two of the glass panels, separating the Kaldur from the others. He reached out towards the barrier, but Robin cut him off.

"Don't touch it! It's a security field! It'll shock you!" the younger boy shouted.

The wall crackled with electricity. There was a loud groan of straining hydraulics as a metal wall descended from the ceiling, cutting off the others from view. For a moment, the area was silent, save the crackling of the electric barrier behind him.

On the other side, Red Arrow slammed his fist into the wall, which succeeded in doing nothing other than bruising his knuckle.

"What do we do?" asked Rocket, panic creeping into her voice.

"We move up, find another way around" said Robin. "Now!"

* * *

The lights went out on Aqualad's side, only to flicker back on, a deep red. Two metal sticks rolled across the ground, landing at his feet. He recognized them instantly. His waterbearers.

Black Manta emerged from the door leading back towards the area they'd been imprisoned. He had the weapon on his wrist raised, but did not react as Kaldur snatched up the waterbearers. Instead, the mercenary reached up and pulled off his helmet.

Aqualad had one, short moment of hope that what he had seen on the beach was false, that this would disprove it, but he knew in his heart that it wasn't.

Black Manta was an older man, with dark skin, black hair and a thin beard around his mouth. If not for his beard and hair, he looked like an older version of, well... Aqualad.

"Kaldur" said Manta, the sworn enemy of King Orin, of Atlantis, of the Justice League.

"It's time we had a little talk. Father to son."

* * *

_Hey all, I'm back! Again._

_Sorry for the brief delay. I get out of my writing routine and it becomes way harder to put together chapters. That, and I'm reaching the end of my "completely planned out" section. However, I **do** know where this is going. Just not the details of every scene._

_I saw "Alienated," got an interesting idea. Though oddly enough, not the one depicted here. That was planned way ahead, I swear, though it was convenient to finally see Manta's face right before I wrote this. Anyway, Invasion is making progress, though I'm still kind of irritated at them for making us play catch-up on five whole years._

_And in a funny twist, I mentally filed it as an AU, or "oh, that's an interesting possibility that's fortunately not canon". That's right. This story (and planned sequels) is now more canon to my subconscious than the actual show._

_Anyway, back to this universe._

_Another revelation. That's Number 3 on the list._

_And trust me: We aren't even at the mind blowing part yet._

_Not to mention the two other ideas I had while camping. Oh, yeah baby. You'll see one of them pretty soon._

___Superboy and M'gann will be in the next chapter, I promise. It just has to be like this for pacing purposes._

_Also, I heard a very interesting theory from Tigress62. If anyone else has something similar, please speak up. I love this kind of thing._

_And just to add fuel to the theorizing fire:_

_Nothing here is as it seems. Except for the stuff that is._

_Have fun!_


	18. Two on Two

**DISCLAIMER: **Seriously, is anyone interested in buying these Avengers guys? I need to sell them so I can get the money to buy _Young Justice_. Because I don't own it right now.

Chapter 18: Two on Two

Conner and M'gann lept in opposite directions as a shot from Mr. Freeze turned the ground they had been standing on to ice.

Superboy managed a surprisingly graceful roll and ran through some bushes. M'gann used her long legs to jump high into the trees above and disappear.

Sportsmaster took the scene in. The two freaks of nature may have appeared to have split up, but they wouldn't stray too far from each other. And that would be their mistake.

"Take the Martian" he ordered Freeze, jumping off his branch and landing on the forest floor. "The clone is mine."

This was not going how Superboy was hoping it would. As far as he knew, he and M'gann were the last ones standing, with the possible exception of Rocket, who was untrained and powerless. M'gann had lost most of her powers and his strength was probably not much more than that of a normal human, if that much. They were facing two experienced supervillains, one of whom was a skilled mercenary, the other wielding a weapon that could immobilize them in a single hit.

So, all in all, a poor ending to a pretty bad day. Or a bad beginning to a probably worse day, depending on if it was after midnight or not.

M'gann swung through the trees, thinking mostly the same thing as she dodged another shot from Mr. Freeze. She had to admit, though she still felt ashamed of her White Martian form, without telekinesis, it was physically superior in combat to her "Megan" form, with long limbs perfect for rapid agile movement.

She then of course, promptly tripped and fell, probably because she was out of practice in this form. Not that she had much experience in physical combat, since telekinesis rendered it pointless.

She rolled out of the way of another blast. Killer Frost had frozen her once in Belle Reve and she was not looking to repeat the experience.

Conner had told her how he'd beaten Freeze in the prison break by breaking his suit, since he needed it to keep him at low temperatures to survive. Unfortunately, she did not look forward to charging an armed man to engage him in melee combat. How did Robin do it?

She gave a little smile, or as much of one as she could in her current form. She'd asked the right question.

WWRD?

What Would Robin Do?

M'gann dodged yet another blast (seriously, did this guy ever have to reload?) using a handstand flip like what Robin had shown her in their week as the Daring Dangers. Trying to confuse Freeze, she dashed on all fours to the left, only to dart to the right, trying to circle her foe.

Flying through some bushes, she rolled and took refuge behind a tree, hoping the darkness would conceal her. Mr. Freeze looked around.

"If you really wish to play hide and seek with me, Martian..." he said in his emotionless voice as he activated his suit's thermal scanners. "You need only to ask."

* * *

Superboy ducked as Sportsmaster's flail came out of nowhere, putting a good sized dent in a tree. He'd taken one good hit from that earlier when he was at full strength and he sure didn't want to take another now.

As much as his pride hated it, Conner was outmatched. Sportsmaster had years of experience versus his six months and the mercenary fought for keeps. Without his powers, there wasn't all that much Black Canary's lessons would let him do.

"What's the matter, kid?" teased Sportsmaster, hiding in the shadows. "Aren't you invulnerable? Like your old man? Or is that kryptonite taking all your power away? Not much of a weapon, are you?"

Superboy knew it was dumb. He _knew_ it was dumb but on instinct he lashed out anyway. Sportsmaster didn't even bother using the flail, simply dodging to the right and giving the Kryptonian a shove, sending him stumbling away.

The mercenary laughed. "I guess if it was Superman with that arrow in his back, he'd probably be in a coma by now. So I have to give you props for that. Though I suspect Luthor's DNA helps."

That hit Conner hard. Not literally hard, of course, like all the other punches, but still pretty hard. Sportsmaster knew his secret and was _taunting_ him about it. The tiny, rational, let's-think-before-we-act part of him flew out the window and he charged again. The mercenary ducked and let Superboy's fist connect with the trunk of a tree. Normally, this wouldn't do much much than get some save-nature group mad at him, but normally he had super-strength and invulnerability. His knuckles cracked and he cried out, clutching his hand. Sportsmaster pressed the attack, kicking him in the stomach.

"Aw, does the poor little boy need some help? Maybe his little alien girlfriend to save him? How 'bout some shields to increase his little powers because he can't fight without them?"

To be completely honest, Sportsmaster actually let him throw the punch this time, only to catch it at the elbow and twist, flipping Superboy over his shoulder and stomping on his chest, driving the air from the Kryptonian's lungs.

Sportsmaster pocketed his flail and pulled out a large hunting knife.

"Let's see how invulnerable you really are. Say, did you ever wonder where your patches disappeared to? Here's a hint. She's tall, white and ugly."

"M'gann would never..." Conner started, but Sportsmaster cut him off with another kick.

"Oh come now! She's been feeding us intel for weeks, all to keep her little secret. Doing little things for us like providing distractions or giving us the means to penetrate Martian camouflage. How do you think we took your ship down in the first place?"

"Liar!" shouted Conner, lunging at Sportsmaster as best he could. The mercenary's boot connected with his chin and sent him rolling several feet.

"Ever wonder why she never talks about what happened in Bialya? To anyone? Even you? It's because she doesn't want to admit what she's done."

"No!" roared Conner. This time he actually managed to get to his feet and slam into Sportsmaster, sending them both rolling in the dust. Sportsmaster lost his grip on the knife and Conner scooped it up. But before the fight could continue, a telepathic scream struck their minds.

"M'gann!" cried out Superboy as he dashed off in the direction he thought it had come from. And in a second, Sportsmaster was right behind him.

* * *

Two grey cylinders rolled next to M'gann's feet. It took her a second to realize what they were and leap out of the way, but that was one second too long.

The freeze grenades exploded, coating her left foot in liquid nitrogen. She screamed as she stumbled and fell, ice clawing at her leg.

"Silly girl" said Mr. Freeze, coating her lower torso in ice with his weapon. "Not only can I track your thermal signature, but there's a small tracking device implanted in your shoulder, courtesy of your stay with us earlier. You cannot escape. The only question is if you can handle the chill."

M'gann tried to crawl forward, but she couldn't move her legs. She could feel her strength weakening, her body going numb. There was a rhythmic beat through the night as Freeze moved closer.

The villain stopped and looked around. The beat continued. It wasn't him that was making it.

But it was footsteps.

And they were running.

* * *

Conner smashed through the brush. It hurt, it really did. The branches scraped against his now-vulnerable skin, but he didn't care. It didn't matter. Only one thing mattered.

M'gann.

He emerged into a clearing and slammed into Mr. Freeze from behind. The villain stumbled, but quickly recovered enough to backhand the Kryptonian, sending him flying into a tree. Freeze advanced on his new target.

"No!" cried M'gann, flexing her leg muscles with all her might. Ripping them free of the ice, she gave Freeze a furious spin-kick to the face.

"Don't you know?" she shouted. "IT'S COLD ON MARS!"

Taking advantage of the distraction, Conner slashed at Freeze with Sportsmaster's knife, cutting open part of his suit.

The villain fell, dropping his ice gun. Superboy landed on him, smashing an already bloodied fist into the glass helmet, again and again, cracking it.

Mr. Freeze reached up, grabbing Superboy's face in his mechanically enhanced hands and lifting the hero into the air.

"Now" he said "I think you should die!"

Conner considered a witty retort but instead simply slammed his foot into the tear in Freeze's suit, opening the rip further. Light blue liquid began to pour out and vaporize.

M'gann lept a good ten feet in the air, landed on Freeze's helmet and delivered a hard strike with both her fists. Freeze let go of Conner in shock as the glass shattered, exposing his vulnerable skin to normal temperatures.

Conner and M'gann landed on the ground next to each other and exchanged a short smile. They started to get to their feet.

That's when two flying red disks appeared, sending electricity arcing through the Martian. She collapsed, Conner catching her as the disks retreated.

Sportsmaster emerged from the treeline, slowly swinging his flail. Around them, several masked men had appeared, all holding either regular or Apokoliptan weaponry.

"So, you took out Freeze" said Sportsmaster. "Congratulations. I never liked the old icebox anyways."

Said icebox was a few feet away, furiously messing with his cooling system, but he seemed to be out of the fight for the moment.

That left Sportsmaster and ten other guys.

"But this is really getting a little old" continued the mercenary, pulling out what looked like a tape recorder. "So I've got a message for you, clone, from Daddy dearest."

Superboy tensed for a fight, even though he knew he could never take this many men without his powers, not with M'gann down.

Sportsmaster pushed the button on the side of the device.

A voice echoed out. A familiar one.

Lex Luthor.

There were just two words, and Superboy already knew what they were.

"Red Sun."

And then the world froze.

* * *

_I have to admit, this was really fun to write. It's the first long fight scene we've had, and certainly not the last. __The only other scene so far that really compares (at least for me) is Artemis's monologue_ in "Judas."  


_To Ally Marton: Yes. As a matter of fact I do enjoy confusing you all in these notes. Or maybe I don't. But I probably do._

_Also had a fun chat with Ultimate Black Ace. If any of you have theories, ideas, advice, criticism or whatever, write a review or send a PM.  
_

_I will reveal what happened to Zatanna soon enough. _

_As for Kid Flash, well, his POV isn't really available at the moment. You'll find out why. Eventually. (Hint: He's dead.) _

_(Other hint: One of these hints is lying to you, and it probably isn't this one.)  
_

_Also, I happen to know that liquid nitrogen would not have the effect depicted here, but I'm going off DC world physics where you can instantly freeze something into a block of ice without dunking it in water first.  
_


	19. Downhill Spiral

**DISCLAIMER**: Young Justice is not owned by me. I am also not Batman. Just letting you know.

Chapter 19: Downhill Spiral

"Now what?" asked Rocket, a hint of panic in her voice. Robin really couldn't blame her.

A mechanical chittering echoed through the air. It sounded kind of like laughter. Robin's heart sank. He knew that sound.

Glowing green dots appeared in the darkness behind the glass panels. The chittering got louder.

"What's that?" asked Red Arrow.

"Move!" shouted Robin, leaping towards the table with the weapons as the glass panels retracted.

And the swarm of MONQIs attacked.

* * *

The black C-5 Galaxy taxied to the end of the runway and prepared for takeoff.

Cheshire and Tigress sat in the cargo hold in silence.

"It's a shame we couldn't stay and play some more" said Cheshire, finally. "You did a great job dropping it as hard on them as possible."

"Thanks, sis" said Tigress, not really paying attention. No matter how hard she tried to avoid it, her eyes kept returning to a pair of black coffin-sized containers. Both were marked "Asset Transfer. Do Not Open" with symbols for low temperature hazards.

"Oh come on! Don't give me that! I'm your sister, remember?"

"Yeah. I know, Jade."

Cheshire put her hand on Artemis's shoulder.

"This is where you belong. There's nothing left for you back there."

Tigress said nothing, but simply stared at the metal floor as the plane took off into the sky.

* * *

Robin flipped over the table, tossing RA his bow and snatching the utility belt without actually touching the table or the floor around it, assuming it was booby-trapped.

Red Arrow caught the bow, but lacking arrows, simply swung it like a bat and smashed open one of the MONQI's head.

"Whoa!" Rocket ducked as two explosive disks from Robin took out a group of the robots behind her.

Reattaching his utility belt to his waist, Robin made another run at the table, grabbing the archer's quiver and Rocket's belt.

Red Arrow threw one MONQI off his shoulder and stomped two more into the ground before catching the quiver, notching an arrow and blowing away a whole group.

Rocket checked her belt, and was not happy with the result. "It's still not working!" she shouted.

"Pull back!" ordered Robin. Red Arrow nodded, firing another arrow to cover their retreat.

Rocket ran past the table, only for the hallway to branch in three directions.

"Left, right, or middle?" she shouted.

Robin threw another pair of batarangs. "Go left! We need to double back around, find Aqualad!"

Rocket dashed into the next hall, followed a moment later by her two teammates, followed a moment after that by a good dozen robot monkeys.

"You know" said Robin "This is kind of like a dream I had once."

"Too much information, Rob" replied Red Arrow, sending his last explosive arrow into the swarm of MONQIs.

Suddenly, Rocket screamed and fell to her knees, clutching her head. "Rocket!" cried out Robin.

"I got her!" shouted RA, firing a polyurethane foam arrow in a failing attempt to slow down the robots. "Cover me!"

Robin responded by throwing another set of batarangs into the fray. At this rate, he was going to be out of ammo soon.

They passed a pair of small, almost inconspicuous metal rails, one on each side of the hall. It took Robin just a second to know what they were used for.

"I've got an idea!" he shouted.

"Do it!" cried the archer, grabbing Rocket, who hadn't moved, and hurling her over his shoulder.

Robin took a second to aim, slowing counting off to himself before he hurled an electric batarang into one of the rails. It sparked briefly before ejecting a blue force field, like the one that had separated them from Aqualad.

The MONQIs crashed straight into it, sizzling and sparking as high-voltage electricity burned out their circuits.

Robin smiled at his handiwork for about two seconds before another security barrier activated behind him.

_Uh oh._

"Robin!" cried out Red Arrow, putting Rocket down and notching an arrow to shoot out the rail projecting the field.

Rocket kicked his legs out from under him, sending him to the ground.

"What..." the archer began, but was cut off as Rocket grabbed his shirt and threw him into the security barrier.

Roy was barely able to scream as thousands of volts poured into him. Robin threw his last explosive disk into the railing, cutting off the electricity.

In less than a second, the Boy Wonder was on top of Rocket, pinning her to the ground.

Roy wasn't moving.

"Wha-what did I just do?" asked Rocket, horror on her face.

"Why my dear..." came a sickeningly familiar voice from the end of the hallway as a wave of nausea struck Robin and he lost his balance.

A figure appeared, wearing brown robes and a hood, which he pulled back to reveal a pale face, yellow eyes and disturbingly transparent skull.

"...don't feel bad" said the man. "After all, you only did as Psimon said."

_So not astrous._

* * *

_On a technical note and in an attempt to avoid future awkwardness, I am a guy. Sorry for any confusion._

_Also, if you don't recall, MONQI stands for Mobile Optimal Neural Quotation Infiltrator, which I'm pretty sure means "Really Smart Infiltrator Robot". So thank you Professor Ivo.  
_

_And yes, I am pushing the "Psimon says" joke a little far. Sue me.  
_


	20. Family Affairs

**DISCLAIMER**: Me and _Young Justice_ are like Bill Gates and Coca-Cola. The former doesn't own the latter. Yet.

Chapter 20: Family Affairs

Aqualad reached out with his mind, sensing a pipe full of water in the wall next to him. Now that he had the waterbearers, he had a chance of summoning it. Of course, Black Manta would shoot him before he had time for that.

And then there was the tiny matter of a little revelation.

"You are not my father" said Aqualad. He believed this was one of those moments that Robin referred to as 'cliche', but he didn't care.

"I'm sorry Kaldur, but you know that's not true."

Kaldur's tattoos glowed and he slammed one of the waterbearers into the electric barrier behind him. Using all his focus, he channeled the electricity through him, creating a lightning bolt that arced across the room, striking Black Manta.

The mercenary cried out as the electricity surged through his armor. Stumbling back to the door, he just barely managed to replace his helmet as Aqualad threw all his power into the water pipe. There was a creaking as the pipe twisted before the water burst through it and the plaster wall and poured into the room.

Focusing all his fury, Aqualad unleashed the water in a concentrated blast, knocking Manta through the door and into the hallway.

"My father's name is Calvin Durham" said Kaldur, trying to contain his emotions. "He worked for you as a spy, until he met my mother."

"Sha'lain'a" said Black Manta, getting to his feet. "Still as beautiful as ever, I assume?"

Aqualad willed the water coating the floor into a fist, smashing it into Manta and knocking him down again.

"Did you ever check the official records, Kaldur? Did you notice that you were born sixteen years ago, and yet Durham only defected right before then? Didn't you wonder where we got the knowledge needed to genetically alter a human to have gills in the first place? Your mother helped us. She loved me."

"Liar!" shouted Kaldur, striking Manta again. Two sharp hardwater swords formed in his hands.

"It's the truth. In fact, she's the reason I learned of Atlantis in the first place."

"No!" cried Kaldur, bringing his swords down at Manta's head. The mercenary rolled out of the way and lept to his feet.

"Your mother always wished to spend time in the surface" said Manta, backing up and dodging another slash. "But the old king was the last of a rather xenophobic line, who had forbidden contact with the outside world. Of course, Sha'lain wasn't the type to take no for an answer. Eventually she snuck out of Shayeris and made it to land. And there, she met me."

Aqualad could feel his anger running out of control, but he no longer cared. Electricity sparked through his swords as he unleashed another fury of blows, which Manta either parried or dodged.

"We fell in love, and she told me so much about what was happening beneath the waves. Do you know how much knowledge Atlantis has kept from the world for centuries? Science, magic, medicine? Do you know how many lives around the world could be saved if they weren't so greedy? If they didn't have to keep it all to themselves?"

At this point, Aqualad was out of words and simply roared and charged again. Black Manta dodged his swipe, grabbing his wrist, striking his elbow and flipping him over his shoulder. The hard water swords dissolved as Aqualad lost his concentration.

"Sha'lain went back when that fool Aquaman came to power, thinking he might be different, but there was no change! Atlantis stayed isolated from the world, trying their best to ignore all the suffering on the surface!"

Kaldur rolled out of the way of a blast from Manta's gauntlet. "King Orin does help the surface!" he shouted, lunging at his opponent. "Why do you think he became Aquaman? Why he helped found the Justice League?"

"Ah, the Justice League" said Black Manta, trading punches with Kaldur. "Such an impressive contribution to the world. One Atlantean fights crime on the surface. Well, two, counting you. But I didn't finish my story, did I?"

Twin energy beams fired from the eyes of Manta's helmet, striking Aqualad in the chest and sending him spinning down the corridor.

"Sha'lain returned to me and I decided to do what had to be done. She didn't know, of course. I'd had some scientists examine her before, and they'd found a way to replicate the process; to allow humans to breath underwater."

Aqualad put his fist into the water pooling on the floor. His tattoos glowed as he poured electricity into it, traveling through the puddle and into Black Manta's feet.

Manta grunted and stumbled a bit but remained standing. "The suit's Faraday shielded, you know" he said, firing another pair of eyebeams at Kaldur, who barely rolled out of the way as the concrete exploded.

Oddly, Kaldur found himself calming down, the anger fading away, clearing his head. This was good, since he was officially out of magical energy. He had only his fists and his wits now.

"So I built this suit, gathered a crew and took the name Black Manta. Durham was the first one to volunteer for the procedure, since he had no home to go back to. It worked, and I sent him down to Poseidoneis with Sha'lain. I didn't know she was pregnant then. Durham was supposed to disable the main defenses so we could attack, but he betrayed us at the last moment. I take it you know the rest."

Aqualad lunged again. Manta fired but Kaldur was expecting it and had changed his attack midway, ducking low and spinning around. The energy beam flew over his head and his foot connected with Manta's chest, sending him to the ground.

Kaldur punched Manta's helmet, once, twice, three times. He grabbed the helmet and ripped it off, revealing Manta's face. The man raised his hands in mock surrender.

"What are you going to do, Kaldur? Kill me? Your own father? Aquaman would be proud, wouldn't he? You're a loyal soldier, after all."

Kaldur punched him again.

"Of course, the Justice League wouldn't like that very much, would they? What about your friends up here? Would they agree with you? Or would they ever trust you to control yourself again, once they see what you can do?"

Kaldur drew back his hand again, but it froze. Conflicting emotions swelled up inside of him.

"What are you, Kaldur? A soldier or a hero? Your choice."

_Kill him_ said a little voice inside Kaldur's head. _He is your king's greatest enemy. You have killed his men before, have you not?_

_That was in battle_ said another voice. _This would be murder._

Kaldur looked down at the emotionless face before him, the one so very much like his own.

"Here" said Manta. "I'll make it easy for you"

And then he jammed the taser built into his glove into Kaldur's side, pouring tens of thousands of volts into the boy. This was followed by a hard punch to the jaw.

Kaldur collapsed.

"Too bad" said Manta, getting to his feet.

"We could have worked well together."

* * *

_In-YJ-universe comics have said that Sha'lain'a is Kaldur's mom and his adopted dad is a former Mantaman named Calvin Durham who was given gills but then defected. So yeah, didn't make any of that up. The rest was me filling in blanks.  
_

_Not exactly sure if my version of Manta is out-of-character or not (he seems a little chatty) but personally, I like him.  
_

_Faraday shielding is covering something in a conductive metal coating, so electricity goes around it, not into it.  
_

_Also, saw "Salvage," and I'm about this close to declaring the whole season non-viable. I mean, I like the new characters, but the 9 from the first season are for the most part so different that I almost wish they'd just killed them all off and replaced them with the new team.  
_

_Speaking of which, I've got some more writing to do... _

_*evil laughter*  
_


	21. Psych Out

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own _Young Justice_. Deal with it.

Chapter 21: Psych-Out

_So not astrous_.

Robin tried to get to his feet, but another blast from Psimon screwed up his balance even more and almost made him throw up.

Rocket was on her back, starring in horror at the psychic as she tried to pull herself away from him.

"My dear Raquel" said Psimon. "You have certainly performed wonderfully. I wish all my puppets would follow orders so well."

"Get… back" grunted Robin, trying to aim his taser. Psimon hit him with another round of psychic energy, and Robin dropped it, his hand shaking.

"Of course, there are limits to what I can make someone do, but fortunately, direct physical control of your body isn't one of them. I'm sure Red Arrow will forgive you when... I'm sorry, _if_ he wakes up."

"You're supposed to be in a hospital in Qurac" muttered Robin, whose attempt to recover the taser was foiled as Psimon's telekinesis pulled it away. "Miss M put you in a coma."

Psimon smiled, and then hit Robin with a brain-blast. "I got better."

"I... I've seen you before" muttered Rocket, using the wall to get to her feet.

"Ah, yes. Did you rest well last night, my dear? No unpleasant dreams? You didn't go _sleepwalking_ did you?"

"What. Did. I. Do?" demanded Rocket. She had to know, even through she felt the truth would tear her apart.

"No need to get pushy, Ms. Erving. You see, our friend Professor Ivo created this nasty nanotech poison."

Robin recovered enough to start reaching for something on his utility belt, but Psimon struck him with more psychic energy, driving him to the ground again.

"Don't interrupt when teacher's talking" said the psychic. Then, for good measure, he flattened Rocket too.

"But you see, this poison can stay in your blood for days and do no harm until it receives a certain electromagnetic signal, such as the one being projected around our base. Then, the little nanites bond to your red blood cells in place of oxygen. Very complicated stuff. But the important part is that no oxygen is getting anywhere. Calculated correctly, a victim can survive, but is rendered unconscious. Mess it up, and, well, at least it's quick."

Robin started reaching for his belt again, so Psimon just went ahead and ripped it off with telekinesis, tossing it to the end of the hall.

"Now, we had a dose of this weapon, only one, I'm afraid, but we needed to use it. And your witch friend... Zatanna, I believe?, drew the short straw. And what better delivery system than a member of your little team? Of course most of you had some resistance of one form or another, but not the new girl. Her mind was fresh. It took so little effort it almost didn't seem worth it. Almost."

"I... didn't..." mumbled Rocket, wide-eyed.

"Oh, but you did. You injected her with the nanites that led to her collapse with your own two hands. You weren't in control of yourself, of course, but don't let that keep you from feeling horrible. It's so entertaining to observe."

Robin had had about enough of this guy, but being weaponless and vulnerable, he started scooting backwards, slowly, trying to put some distance between him and his opponent. Fortunately, Psimon's attention was still focused on Rocket. A plan had formed in his mind but he'd immediately thrown it as far from his thoughts as he could to protect it from mental intrusion.

All he let himself remember was that he had to get to the other end of the hallway, back where they'd come from.

"I... killed her?" Rocket asked. She'd already failed Zatanna once by not protecting her in the woods; if she was the reason her friend had needed help in the first place...

"Oh, no. You didn't kill her. But... no reason to spoil all the fun. You'll see what I mean soon enough."

He poured psychic energy into her mind. Rocket fell to the ground, clutching her head in her hands.

"No! No! No! Get out! Get out!" she screamed, spasms running through her body. She didn't want to be his puppet! She'd rather die than give in! But he was everywhere, and there was no way she could fight it.

For a second, Raquel opened her eyes and instead of one Psimon, there were a thousand. She shut them again as the pain increased.

Finally, blackness overtook her.

And then things got even worse.

* * *

_Sorry about the wait, other stuff started piling up.  
_

_No, I have not forgotten about Conner and M'gann. This is just how the pacing works._

_Also, for the record, you should be suspicious of all of my comments here, except those explicitly marked as **WORD OF GOD**. Those you should dismiss outright._


	22. Knighttime

**DISCLAIMER**: Harvetaria muri cartinum_ Young Justice_. Makuja.

Chapter 22: Knighttime

**Quebec, Canada**

**December 28, 02:53 EST**

The interior of the helicopter was eerily quiet, save for the constant, steady chop of the rotors, reduced to mere whispers by latest generation stealth technology.

Five heroes sat in silence.

They'd teleported down to the city of Quebec, Quebec and within an hour had the helicopter the League kept there on standby fueled up and in the air.

Black Canary was sleeping (somehow), her head on Green Arrow's shoulder. The archer seemed to be dozing off too. Red Tornado (who had decided to ride in the helicopter with the others instead of flying on his own in order to save power) had gone into a shutdown cycle. J'onn was meditating quietly.

Batman had insisted on flying. It gave him something to do, something to keep his mind off his worries.

And Dick.

Though he'd once sworn that he would never allow himself to become attached to anyone, ever again, told himself that the mantle of Batman meant that he could never allow anyone to be close enough to him to be a target, he knew that wasn't true.

Despite all the darkness and despair he'd faced the last ten years, seeing the worst humanity (and other species) had to offer over and over again, the times he spent with his ward made him almost... happy. No matter how hard he'd tried, his heart had opened.

Dick was his son, and he loved him.

And he wasn't going to let anyone take that away.

J'onn appeared behind him, taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair.

"What do you want?" Batman asked the Martian.

"You are apprehensive. You fear for the Team's safety."

"I don't 'fear' anything J'onn. I am concerned that their mission is in jeopardy."

"And yet you arranged this entire expedition to save them. It is not a sign of weakness to admit that you care, Batman. It is a sign of humanity."

Batman looked down. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it wasn't just Robin he was worried about: It was the others too. Superboy, who he'd initially distrusted but who he'd still tried to convince Superman to take in. Kaldur, who he was hard on out of necessity, but secretly proud of as well. Wally of course, was Dick's best friend, and so similar to his uncle, it made Batman smile when he was absolutely sure that no one was looking.

"And M'gann?" he said to the Martian. "You feel the same about her?"

"I believe that she is capable of defending herself, but, yes, I am worried about her. She is a relative in my care. It is only natural."

Batman said nothing.

"I sense something else odd as well. Why would you pick only the four of us to accompany you? Why not Superman, or Wonder Woman, or the Flash? Is there no one other than the four of us who you would have brought?"

Batman thought for a second.

"Superman was never a big fan of the Team existing anyways, and his relationship with Superboy is... rocky at best. Flash isn't a stealth person. Diana is on Themyscira. As for the others, this is quite likely a trap for the Team, which means they will be ready for a League response."

"You fear we may be on a suicide mission" observed J'onn.

"I can't risk anyone critical to the continuation of the League. I've left instructions for Aquaman and Captain Atom in the event this mission fails and we go down."

"And you aren't essential?" asked Green Arrow. Batman almost smiled. Of course the archer would be listening in on their conversation. "The League need you too, Bats. You were elected leader for a reason."

"I have to do this" said the Dark Knight. They sat in silence again for a few seconds.

"Let me tell you something" said Green Arrow, finally. "When Roy first started out on his solo gig, I was worried sick. I knew how many times we'd almost died when we were together, and the thought of not being able to be there when he needed it made me feel nauseous. But do you know what I realized? I _was_ there for him, even if I was on the other side of the planet. I was in his training, his experience, his equipment. I'd made him ready. All I had to do was let him go."

Batman stared through the windshield into the dark trees and rocks of Quebec. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"To answer you question, J'onn" he finally said "There is one more person I would have brought... if I could."

The Martian stared at him for a second as he realized who.

"You miss Giovanni."

Batman didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He and Zatara had been what could really only be described as friends for years. When Zatara was forced to become Dr. Fate, Batman had silently promised him that he would look after Zatanna. But even then, she was more than just the daughter of a friend. She was a connection to him, a link to his humanity. If something had happened to her, would Zatara ever even want to be himself again?

The radio crackled before the voice of Green Lantern John Stewart, came through. "Batman, this is Watchtower."

"Do you have something to report?" asked Batman. He already knew the answer, of course. Stewart was a soldier. He wouldn't call unless it was important. That's why he was the only other one Batman had told about the mission. They needed someone in the Watchtower to keep an eye on things.

"The drones have ceased fire and seem to have landed, but high-altitude imagery has confirmed a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane just took off from the base, and there are at least two more visible on the runway."

"We are still two hours away" said J'onn.

"What is the Canadian military's response?" asked Batman.

"It's been slow and I had to get several ministers out of bed, but they'll have fighters in the area within an hour."

"Good. See if you can get them to prevent those planes from taking off. Are you tracking the first one?"

"It's hard, and it looks like they've added some stealth tech to the design, but it looks like the plane is heading east over the Atlantic. I've rerouted a satellite system to follow it."

"Acknowledged. Keep us updated."

"Roger that. Good luck out there. Bring those kids home."

"I intend to" said the Caped Crusader. "Batman out."

* * *

_Hey, guys. Sorry this took a while. I had a tiny bit of writers block and then some sort of "scheduled updates" kept me from posting anymore chapters. _

_However, in my writer's block (which, yes, even I get sometimes), I had a few minutes and made a hype poster for this story. You can look at it on my deviantart account, but for some reason I can't post a link here so I put one in my profile._

_Also, saw "Beneath." And noticed that their official story on Psimon (coma in Qurac but actually isn't) is the same as mine. Go figure. Combined with the fact that I wrote Black Manta's "I am your father" thing on the same day as "Alienated," I can only conclude that the writers of the canon are reading my mind and stealing my plotlines. This will not go unpunished._

_Of course, my villainous plans make far more intuitive sense than kidnapping runaway children in Texas, shipping them to Iran and then moving them again through an underground airstrip built into the side of a canyon, as opposed to one on the surface, where the plane's wings can't get ripped off if it moves five feet to the right.  
_

_Just thought I'd mention that.  
_

_But now that we have the necessary heartwarming daddyBats scene out of the way, let's get back to the mind control and torture._


	23. Tabula Rasa

**DISCLAIMER: **Wait a second. What's _Young Justice_ again? Do I own that? Nope, I guess not.

Chapter 23: Tabula Rasa

"Rocket? Rocket, wake up. Wake up!"

A bright light blinded her as she opened her eyes.

The walls were white. Everything was white.

The familiar beep of a heartbeat monitor told her she was in a hospital.

Squinting, she could make out three figures standing over her: Icon, Batman and the Martian Manhunter.

"Wha... what happened?" Rocket muttered before an urgent thought struck her.

"Artemis! She's a traitor! She..."

"We know" said Batman, cutting her off. "We recovered security footage from the base. We saw everything." He leaned in towards her. "Absolutely everything."

"Then you know that I..."

"Yes" said the Martian Manhunter. "You have been under Psimon's control, whether direct or indirect for the past several weeks. Though I have scanned your mind, I cannot determine if there is any permanent long-term damage or... residual programming."

"Residual...?"

"Even if your mind was permanently shielded from his influence, it is quite possible that your mind may already have been programed to react to certain triggers and cause a... repeat of what happened to Red Arrow."

Oh God, it hadn't been a crazy dream! She'd actually done that to him!

"How is he?" she asked. Icon and the Manhunter exchanged solemn looks.

Batman didn't blink.

"He's dead. The electrocution stopped his heart."

_NO! DAMNIT NO!_

How could she ever forgive herself for this? Her teammate had trusted her and she'd killed him with her bare hands!

"And Robin?"

Batman's eyes narrowed in anger, as if he was blaming her for the entire mission's failures.

"Psimon killed him" said the Dark Knight. "Ripped his psyche in half and gave him internal hemorrhaging. The sick bastard enjoyed every minute of it."

This struck Rocket like a blow. She was the newbie on the Team, of course, but she knew how the others felt about Robin. He was everyone's little brother. She couldn't even imagine how they'd...

"What about everyone else?" she blurted out. She had to know who else they'd lost.

"They are gone" said a new voice. Rocket hadn't realized it, but sitting in a chair in the corner of the room was Aqualad. His left arm was in a sling and there were bandages wrapped around half of his torso. Bruises covered most of his face and he groaned as he rose to his feet.

"We are the only ones left. Miss Martian died in the crash" said the Atlantean, walking over towards her bed. "Artemis was seen leaving with both Kid Flash and Superboy frozen solid, but we have no idea where they went."

"And Zatanna?" asked Rocket. Zatanna had been her best friend on the team. The one she had been assigned to protect after the crash, and she'd failed.

Somehow, Batman managed to narrow his eyes even more than they already were to form the world-famous Batglare.

"They drained her of her magic" said Aqualad. "Completely."

"Zatanna is alive" said the Manhunter "but she is in a coma, and we fear braindead."

"They used the magical energy" continued Batman "to power a suit of ancient magical armor they called the Annihilator. It went on a rampage and killed five League members before it was taken down." The Dark Knight slammed his fist on the desk beside her. "_Five Justice League members!_" he shouted. "Dead! Including Superman! One of the last things Green Arrow saw was his protege's dead body! And all of this because you allowed a wounded teammate to fall into enemy hands!"

Rocket tried to say something to defend herself, but she found her mouth wouldn't work. All that came out was a quiet whimper.

Batman's fury turned cold. "Robin wouldn't have made that mistake" he said, turning away. "None of them would have." Icon put his hand to Batman's shoulder, but the Caped Crusader brushed him off and stormed out of the room.

"Raquel" said Icon, speaking for the first time."I know that none of this was your fault, and you are the greatest assistant I could have asked for. But unfortunately, these events have shown that you are far too vulnerable to psychic control. I would never doubt which side your heart is on, but if we are forced to keep an eye on you at all times, you become a liability. I feel that it would be best, if... you ceased to be Rocket."

Rocket looked into each of their eyes. Icon's were full of sorrow. Martian Manhunter remained completely expressionless, as he so often did. Aqualad seemed to be concealing something, though what she couldn't be sure.

But it was time to face the facts. She'd felt herself losing control of her body. She'd felt her hands grabbed Red Arrow and throw him into the security barrier. She'd heard his scream as he cried out with his last breath.

And if never feeling that way ever again meant giving up her superhero career... she could live with that.

Rocket-no, just Raquel now-nodded. "Alright."

Icon bowed his head slightly. "We can talk more about this later."

"What's there to talk about?" asked Raquel. "It seems pretty simple to me."

Icon said nothing as the three remaining heroes walked to the door.

Aqualad turned at the door and gave her a little smile. But as he turned away, she saw his expression turn to one of shame.

He turned out the light and closed the door.

And then, and only then, did Raquel let herself cry.

* * *

_So. Yeah. Everyone died.  
_

_Bet you didn't see that one coming.  
_

_Poor Roc-Raquel. She can't even finish a sentence without someone dying.  
_

_For those who don't know, Icon is Rocket's mentor.  
_

_Also, sorry for keeping you guys waiting on this chapter. Wasn't really sure how it was going to go.  
_


	24. Heat Wave

**DISCLAIMER:** I just bought _Young Justice_ on ebay! Wait, no, that's _Superfriends_. Uh-oh...

Chapter 24: Heat Wave

M'gann landed on the ground. Hard.

She'd been unconscious part of the time, so she wasn't sure how long it had been or how far they had dragged her.

Not until she saw the Bioship.

To be more specific, she saw the crushed remains of the ship's bow, which was half-buried in the ground from the force of the impact.

M'gann felt like she was going to cry, seeing it like this. Though it didn't look like it to most people, the Bioship had been _alive_. It was the only thing she'd brought from Mars, her only connection to the planet besides Uncle J'onn.

And it was gone.

The two men holding her arms threw her down. She tried to catch herself, but with her wrists shackled behind her back and feet bound together, all she did was land on her side.

Hard.

"This good, sir?" one of the men asked Sportsmaster, who seemed amused at the whole thing.

"That'll be fine. Do it."

The man nodded and signaled two others to come forward. M'gann noticed several weapons of both Earth and Apokoliptan design were pointed at her. Not that she'd be much of a threat without her powers.

"And Freeze?" asked Sportsmaster.

"Tau and Vega report that the chopper made it back to the base and is preparing for evac."

"Too bad it couldn't bring us, the clone or Freeze's toy with him" said another.

Shifting her head, M'gann could see at least three other men off to her right, making it at least eight total. Next to them stood Conner, standing obediently and holding Mr. Freeze's massive ice cannon. His eyes stared straight ahead and it was clear that he wasn't in control of himself.

M'gann started to get up, but a boot connected with her chest and she fell over onto her back.

"What did you do to him?" demanded M'gann, her still-weak telepathic voice somehow full of rage. Thoughts of all the horrible things she would do to them surfaced. Normally, she suppressed those thoughts, but not now. She needed time for the drugs to wear off and somehow it felt like anger could get her there faster.

Sportsmaster laughed. "Nothing he wasn't meant to do. You _do_ remember he was manufactured, right? As a _weapon._ Sort of a cheap knockoff of the real one, if you ask me, but still workable. You, however have reached the end of your usefulness to our organization."

A slimy liquid splashed over her, and it only took a second to recognize the smell.

Gasoline.

Tucking her legs under her body like she'd done in cheerleading practice, M'gann managed to make a froglike leap to her feet and slam into the goon holding the gas can. As he fell, she charged towards Sportsmaster.

"Conner! Fight it!" she cried out.

The mercenary chuckled and batted her aside with the back of his hand without blinking an eye. Conner didn't move from where he was.

"Don't you get it?" said Sportsmaster. "His brain's not home. If your telepathy was at full strength, _maybe_ you could reach him."

He delivered another kick to her ribs before bringing the heel of his boot down on her forehead.

"But right now? You might as well try to talk to a brick wall."

The mercenary picked up the fallen gas can and shook what was left of its contents onto the groaning Martian.

"Poor little Megan" he said, pulling out a silver cigarette lighter. "Killed when her little ship went down. Didn't even last long enough to put up a fight, like the others did. Too bad it didn't help them, though."

"What did you do to them?"

Sportsmaster tilted his head in a way that suggested he was smiling behind his hockey mask.

"Does it really matter?" he asked, flicking on the lighter. A small orange flame popped into existence.

M'gann didn't like fire. Especially not when she was coated in gasoline.

"Conner! Please! Help me!" she cried out, using the last of her telepathic strength.

Conner blinked once but didn't move.

"Bye-bye little girl" said Sportsmaster.

He tossed the lighter.

It landed at her feet.

The world exploded.

M'gann screamed.

And then there was nothing but the burning.

* * *

_Yes, as a matter of fact, I am evil. Deal with it.  
_


	25. Extrasensory Perceptions

**DISCLAIMER**: _Young Justice_, where food is good (but regretfully nothing is owned by me)!

Chapter 25: Extrasensory Perceptions

Robin clutched his head as another psychic blast struck him. A few feet away, Rocket stopped convulsing and went limp, which left Psimon to focus all his attention on the Boy Wonder.

_Lucky me_ he thought.

"I heard that" said Psimon, striking Robin with another pulse.

Robin knew he was only a few feet away from his plan that he really needed to not think about...

"What are you hiding? You have some clever scheme to defeat me? That doesn't seem very nice. How about if we talk about you instead? I'm sure you have some wonderful secrets in that brain of yours."

Robin felt Psimon digging around inside his mind, and realized it was time for drastic action. Batman had taught him a technique for shielding his mind. It was simple enough: fill your mind with something easily repeated but completely irrelevant. Like what Bane had done to M'gann on Santa Prisca.

_No, shouldn't think about that..._

A burst of pain shook him.

"You'll need to put up more resistance than that, Bat-boy" said Psimon in a bored tone, which Robin hoped to soon correct.

He started humming. A tune he'd learned in fifth grade. All the boys had been singing it at one time or another.

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes..._

Over and over, faster and faster.

It could be said that Robin had his own "personal spin" on the technique.

"What childish nonsense is this?" asked Psimon, sending a concentrated strike of brainwaves at him. Robin winced but ignored it.

_ I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves..._

Another spike of pain, but Robin kept at it. Slowly, he was pulling himself back towards that thing he wasn't thinking about...

_Everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves..._

Psimon struck harder and harder as he became angrier, but he was still trying to limit his attacks' power to avoid knocking Robin out, so the attacks didn't do much more than hurt some. His mistake.

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves..._

"You think such amateur defenses will stop me?" Psimon asked, though by the sound of his voice the song was clearly getting to him.

At this point, Robin decided to up the ante and started listing off prime numbers.

_2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23..._

While still humming.

"ENOUGH!" roared Psimon, both psychically and physically, striking Robin with a blast powerful enough to flatten him again. "I am the one in control here!"

_We'll see about that_ thought Robin as he resumed his defenses.

But Psimon's attention was no longer focused on the Boy Wonder.

"Let's see how your friend here fairs" said Psimon.

Out of the corner of his eye, Robin saw Rocket start moving. Unnaturally, like a rag doll.

"No! Leave her alone!" he shouted.

Rocket screamed.

And with that distraction, Psimon broke through the outer defenses and fully entered Robin's mind.

* * *

_If you have difficulty imagining what Robin's singing, look it up on Youtube.  
_

_Just a heads up, I'm going out of town for a while in two weeks, but if I can keep myself motivated enough, I might be able to finish the story before then. Otherwise you'll probably end up stuck on a cliffhanger even worse than this one.  
_

_Also, I uploaded the hype poster I made onto fanfiction's new image manager but I'm not yet sure how to make it publicly viewable.  
_


	26. Dichotomy

**DISCLAIMER: **One does not simply own _Young Justice_. Especially if one is me.**  
**

Chapter 26: Dichotomy

Raquel walked home in silence.

Icon had zeta'd back to Dakota City with her and offered to fly her home, but she'd said no. She needed more time to think about things.

Not that that wasn't what she'd been doing for her two whole days in the hospital.

The entire team was gone.

Granted, she'd only known them for a few days, but to have them all die or worse on their first mission together...

And of course, there was Zatanna, who she'd failed to save and Red Arrow, who she'd killed with her own two hands.

Finally, she reached her apartment building and was forced to put her thoughts aside to ascend the stairs and put her key in the lock.

No one else was around.

She'd called her mom to say she'd be coming home, but told her it would be fine if she stayed at work.

So the lights really shouldn't have been on.

"Hello?" asked Raquel nervously as she moved forward into the room. After she'd first put on the inertia belt and became Rocket, she'd never thought she'd be scared of a simple burglar ever again.

The door clicked shut behind her and she whirled to find a tall woman with wild black hair and a grinning mask standing behind her.

Cheshire.

Raquel backed up, trying to stay out of reach, looking for a weapon. Cheshire didn't move, but simply stood there, one hand on her hip.

Raquel didn't take her eyes off the assassin until she heard another footstep behind her. Turning around, she locked eyes with a second figure emerging from the kitchen, dressed in an altered version of her old uniform, with a large hunting knife strapped to her leg. Raquel had no difficulty recognizing her.

"Artemis."

* * *

Robin screamed.

Pain rushed into his head like a tidal wave, filling all the gaps it could find.

He could _feel_ Psimon's presence everywhere, taking total control.

_No..._

"You are mine, child" said Psimon. The man chuckled, as if the whole thing was amusing.

It was then that something inside Robin snapped.

"NEVER!" he screamed, pushing back on Psimon with all his will, with all his anger.

"What...?" asked Psimon in pure surprise as Robin's counterattack started to overwhelm him.

For the entire mission, things had been steadily sliding out of control, going from bad to worse to worse than that: out of the frying pan, into the thermonuclear reaction.

And Robin was sick of it.

"Give... in..." muttered Psimon, strain clear in his voice.

_Make me_ thought Robin as he pushed harder and harder, using all of his rage, straining his willpower to levels that even Green Lanterns rarely reached.

And then it was over. Psimon cut the connection and fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

Robin was on his back. Slowly, he felt control of his muscles returning to him and he struggled to get up. He couldn't give a repeat of that anytime soon. If he couldn't take finish off Psimon before the psychic recovered, he was screwed.

"Unacceptable" muttered Psimon, hands on his temples as if he was suffering a sudden bout of vertigo. "I can understand losing to the Martian, or maybe even the Atlantean. But an ordinary human child? What drives you?"

Robin propped himself up with his elbow, too out of breath to answer.

"Well" said Psimon, regaining his composure somewhat "We'll just have to figure that out together." From the inside of his robes he removed what was unmistakably a syringe, which he plunged into his wrist.

Robin had a feeling that this was going to end badly and lunged down the corridor away from Psimon, towards his earlier objective, only to be flattened by a psychic blast.

"Psychostimulants" said the villain, getting back to his feet and tossing the now useless needle away from himself. He smiled.

"Ready for Round 2?"

* * *

_Another chapter for your enjoyment. I am honestly trying to speed this up.  
_

_And, a note to all you pineapple-welding fangirls:  
_

_BRING IT ON!  
_

_*cocks shotgun*  
_


	27. Dark Heart

**DISCLAIMER:** I'm sorry. I'm not available to come to the phone right now because I'm busy fighting off homicidal fruit. As such, I cannot inform you that I do not own _Young Justice_. My apologies.

Chapter 27: Dark Heart

"Hello, Raquel" said Artemis.

Raquel started to back up, but remembered Cheshire was still behind her and went to the left instead.

Artemis followed her, but was taking her time. It's not like Raquel had any real place she could run.

"Where are you going, little girl?" said Cheshire. "We just want to talk."

Raquel was not interested in talking. She looked around frantically for anything that could be used as a weapon.

"We heard you got fired" said Artemis. "And that really sucks. But the hero thing is overrated anyways. Trust me. I know."

Raquel backed up into the living room, still looking for something that she could defend herself with.

"So here's the deal" added Cheshire. "We'd like to offer you a job. A chance to get back at the Justice League."

"N-no!" stuttered Raquel. "I'm nothing like you!"

"Really?" said Artemis, advancing. "You aren't the slightest bit angry at the League? At Batman? They blamed everything on you, and it wasn't even your fault. They just need _someone_ to be responsible for it, and you were the most expendable. Doesn't that make you mad? That you're just a scapegoat to them?"

Raquel looked around, desperate for something she could use. She could try the phone, of course, but who could she call? The police? Even if they could get here in time, would they be able to do anything? And, of course, she no longer had her Justice League communicator.

"Come with us" said Cheshire. "It'll be fun."

Raquel dashed to the living room fireplace and tried to grab the metal poker. Cheshire crossed the room with a midair flip and brought her foot down on Raquel's hand. Something cracked and Raquel stumbled backwards, clutching her wrist.

"That wasn't nice" said Cheshire, waving her finger like a pre-school teacher.

"Please, Raquel" said Artemis. "We'll work great together."

For one, single moment, Raquel considered it.

Just one.

"You think I'd work with you?" she shouted at Artemis, feeling way braver now that she didn't have anything to lose. "After what you did to Zatanna, to Kid Flash, to Red Arrow, to me? Let's face it, Artemis. You're the one on the wrong path. And I'm not following you. Some of us actually did the hero thing because it was right."

"A pity" said Artemis, unsheathing her knife. "But if that's the way you want to see it, it's fine with me."

She lunged at Raquel, who grabbed a vase off a nearby table and tried to swing it at her. Artemis ducked and knocked the vase away before delivering a kick to Raquel's knees. The girl lost her balance and tumbled to the ground. Artemis gave her a savage kick to the abdomen.

Raquel gasped for breath as Artemis towered over her.

"Bye" said the traitor.

And then she plunged the knife into Raquel's chest.

* * *

_Yay for explicit character death!  
_

_Wow. We're almost at 100 reviews! Awesome!  
_

_I also made a second hype poster, plus a mini cover since none of my posters fit of the Image Manager without the title turning into "orst Case Scenar". Link's in my profile. Tell me what you think.  
_

_Also feeling like showing the rest of you this quote from a PM I sent to Ultimate Black Ace a few days ago:  
_

_"Besides, it's not like I've KILLED any of them. Yet.  
I merely shot their plane down, froze KF, set M'gann on fire, threw Roy into a high-voltage barrier, brainwashed Conner, got Rocket fired, psychically tortured Robin and a currently unidentified additional teammate, blew up Kaldur, caused Artemis to go evil, told you half the team died offscreen and you don't even want to know what happened to Zatanna..."  
_

_I think that sums up the story so far pretty well.  
_

_And to the armies of giant pineapples and armadas of carrots laying siege to my house (best out of context line ever, by the way) I say this:  
_

_"EAT C-4!"  
_

___*detonates land mines while cackling evilly*_  



	28. Empirical Methods

**DISCLAIMER**: Yesterday was my birthday! But I didn't get ownership of _Young Justice_ as a present. So I'm sad now.

Chapter 28: Empirical Methods

Robin was _not_ ready for Round 2. You can only take so many psychic beatings before you give in.

Fortunately, he wasn't completely spent yet and threw up some more mental defenses.

Psimon struck at him again and Robin quickly began trying to name every country in the world as fast as he could.

"I suppose..." said Psimon, his voice calmer now "that I should have expected resistance. Your mentor undoubtedly learned such techniques to defend himself and passed them onto you."

_Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay..._

"You do have an impressively strong mind" continued the psychic, walking slowly towards Robin. "I suppose that shouldn't be a total surprise. My... employers _did_ warn me not to attempt direct control of you, as I did with your friend here." He waved a hand towards Rocket.

Robin started backing up, still naming countries. He couldn't let Psimon distract him.

_Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia..._

"For you, I had to create a special set of... unorthodox controls."

"You won't beat me" muttered Robin, who was feeling the inexplicable superhero urge to say something cool in the face of danger.

_Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Quarac, Bialya, Afghanistan..._

"But my dear Robin" said Psimon. "I already have. You've been under my influence all night."

_What...?_

Robin's concentration broke, and Psimon took advantage of it.

"Did it occur to you that you have been making a very poor set of decisions tonight? Suggesting your leader, the Atlantean go off alone? Failing to order radio silence until it was too late? Sending your teammates into the wilderness one by one, to be picked off? Abandoning an injured and a powerless comrade unable to defend themselves?"

_No... It can't be true..._

"I have been inside your subconscious the entire time! Not far enough to learn any secrets or obtain direct control, but enough to provide a tiny voice spewing bad decisions."

Psimon's presence entered his mind, and suddenly Robin couldn't see the real world anymore. He felt as though he was floating in an abyss, with purple light everywhere.

Psimon's face appeared, massive, floating in the void. He smiled.

"I could destroy you now in an instant, now, but what fun would that be? I have some time, after all. So let's see what makes the Boy Wonder tick."

Robin made a last-ditch effort to blank his mind completely. Quickly, he stuffed everything involving the Team, the Justice League or Batman into a little mental vault as far back in his head as possible.

But there was one memory he didn't hide in time. Normally, it wouldn't even have been out of his subconscious, but their recent trip to Europe had brought it back to the forefront of his mind.

"Hmm. What's this?" asked Psimon, and Robin didn't have any more choice.

For a second, everything was black and quiet, and Robin could hope, even for a second, that he was dead, and he wouldn't have to remember it.

Then the memory began.

The cheer of the crowd. The smell of cheap popcorn and cotton candy.

One voice amplified by a megaphone.

"And for our next act, I give you the world famous... Flying Graysons!"

* * *

_Come on! Four more reviews! We've gotta break 100!  
_

_Oh yeah, I also screwed up on the original chapter title, but it's been replaced now.  
_

_Speaking of which...  
_

_OH YEAH? I EAT PLUMS FOR BREAKFAST! SERIOUSLY! THEY'RE DELICIOUS!  
_

_As for holding out with only batarangs and chewing gum... I LIED!  
_

_*waffles defect to my side*  
_

_EVIL BEWARE! I HAVE WAFFLES!  
_

___*fighter plane strafes the homicidal meat sticks*_

_Anyway..._

_With regards to the sequel, in case you're doubting my resolve, well, Season 2 gave me a whole new team of characters to choose from, including Blue Beetle, Tim Drake, Wonder Girl, Lagoon Boy (and he wonders why no one respects him) Bumblebee and Beast Boy. Plus, there's the actual Justice League, too, and other characters in comics canon (Jason Todd, anyone?) to have fun with, and if, say, I throw in Teen Titans characters too...  
_

_Basically, I totally have the capacity to kill everyone on the original Team and put together another one to make a sequel.  
_

_Just letting you know.  
_


	29. Red Sun

**DISCLAIMER**: Wo-hoo! I've hit 100 reviews! Yay! But I still don't own _Young Justice_. Sorry.

Chapter 29: Red Sun

Screaming.

Conner heard screaming.

And he recognized it.

"M'gann?" he whispered in surprise.

It was like he'd blinked. One second, he was holding M'gann's unconscious form surrounded by Sportsmaster's goons. Then he'd heard those two words, and...

Conner jerked his head around, taking the scene in. He was holding a large-barreled weapon, which looked heavy enough that his superstrength must have started returning. There was one masked man to each side of him, but they were both looking at something else.

Looking at the screaming.

In one fluid motion Conner swung the weapon in his hands like a club, striking the man on his right in the face and hitting the goon to the left in the back with a spin kick. As the guy stumbled forward, Conner brought the weapon down in between his shoulder blades.

"Hey!" someone shouted. Conner didn't care. He recognized the thing in his hands now: It was Mr. Freeze's giant ice gun. Acting on pure instinct, he brought it up to his shoulder and aimed at the main source of light in the area:

The screaming.

The ice gun must have been damaged somewhat in the earlier fight, because it only gave a short, weak blast. But that was enough. The blast engulfed a flaming humanoid figure and the flames went out.

The screaming stopped.

And then Sportsmaster's flail slammed into the side of the gun.

* * *

M'gann toppled over. Somehow, she realized, the burning had lasted but a few seconds. Her wrists were still shackled together, her feet were still bound and she had some bruises but other than that she was remarkably unharmed for having just been set on fire.

She tried to get her heartbeat under control and stop hyperventilating. There were cries and shouts above her but she almost felt like simply lying on the ground and waiting.

Almost.

* * *

"What's the matter with you?" shouted Sportsmaster, swinging his mace back at Superboy, who barely jumped back in time. The ice gun had been knocked out of his hands, but it was too bulky to be useful anyways.

"All you have to do is be a good little weapon and do what we tell you to do" continued Sportsmaster.

A backhand with the flail struck Superboy's shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"Why is this so difficult to understand?" asked the mercenary, bringing the flail down towards Superboy's head.

"I'm not a weapon" Conner spat, rolling out of the way.

"I'm a person" he added, getting to his feet, seething in cold anger. His strength was definitely returning, although whether his invulnerability was back too he wasn't sure.

Sportsmaster instinctively took a step back, whirling the flail over his head.

"I have free will" said Superboy. Sportsmaster struck, but the Kryptonian caught it in his hand. "I can make my own choices."

He pulled on the flail and the chain jerked taught. Sportsmaster stumbled forward and got an elbow to the chin.

"And I will never listen to you."

The mercenary fell to the ground. Conner tossed the flail away and stood over him, ready for a knockout blow.

"Nice speech" said Sportsmaster, tapping a small device attached to his mask with his finger.

Suddenly, nausea overtook Conner and he stumbled back.

Two floating red disks appeared and poured electricity into the Kryptonian's body.

He screamed and fell to his knees.

Sportsmaster got up.

Two more goons, one with an Apokoliptan weapon and another with an M16 rifle appeared.

"But I'm really a man of few words."

And then his boot connected with Superboy's chin.

* * *

_I literally just saw "Depths." Wow. Very impressive scenario _and_ twist. I almost feel like the canon writers are taking points from me now.  
_

_That means I expect royalties.  
_

_Speaking of which, I stole an idea from Ally Marton (and you've already deployed fruit armies at my house so there's nothing more you can do) and decided to post all my other fanfic ideas which I might actually do in my profile. Go to my poll and VOTE! And no, the sequel to WCS isn't on there. That one's a given.  
_

_Finally, congrats to Takua Nui for being the 100th reviewer! As a prize for that and having good taste in construction toys, you may name one character you wish to not die and I will push their fate back at least one chapter.  
_

_Now if you'll excuse me, back to the Robin torture.  
_

___Muh-ha-ha-ha!_  



	30. Inner Demons

**DISCLAIMER: **I have POWER! UNLIMITED POWER! But I still don't have ownership of _Young Justice_. :(**  
**

Chapter 30: Inner Demons

He was in the stands. All around him people were cheering and laughing and having a good time. They didn't know what was going to happen. They didn't know that this act would end up as front-page news.

But Dick knew.

A thousand times he'd relived this memory, but never as vivid as this.

He was in the stands. He'd had a cold that day, and his parents had never wanted him to do net less work anyways. Too dangerous.

He wanted to run out of the tent and just run and run until he was as far away as possible, but he couldn't get up. He wasn't sure if it was him or something Psimon had done, but he _had_ to see it again.

The act started off as rehearsed, with Mom and Dad leaping and flying through the air. As much as he was trying to avoid it, Dick couldn't help but feel a little thrill as he saw them dance in the sky. He was pretty sure that only someone like Superman or perhaps M'gann could truly understand the feeling of flying like that.

And then came the moment he'd been dreading.

The run started like any other. Dad looked down at him and gave a little nod, that everything was going to be alright.

Then they lept from their perch, both grabbing onto the large trapeze at once.

The force of both of them at once was too much for the already weakened safety clasp.

The left rope came loose from its hold on the ceiling. Mom fell first, and screamed.

In slow motion, Dad, holding the other rope with his right hand, grabbed her wrist and held on with superhuman strength.

For half a second, everything was going to be okay.

Then the other rope came loose.

For everyone else in the audience, it was fast. Not for Dick. His mind had been going over every little detail of this memory for years, and had been running at hyperspeed when he recorded it. His mother's eyes locked with his for a split second, but it seemed like forever. He could see her trying to be calm, for him, but there was fear in her eyes as well.

And then they hit the ground.

* * *

That day's circus had ended right then. The audience cleared out, all heading back towards their normal lives. Eventually they would start to forget.

But Dick didn't have a normal life to go back to. He stood on the circus floor and stared at them. He knew he shouldn't look at them like that, but he couldn't stop. Only when the police were cordoning off the area did Mr. Haley appear, and force Dick to leave, hand on his shoulder.

As they walked out of the tent, Dick knew what had happened at this point. He had looked up in the empty stands and seen one man who hadn't fled the scene.

Bruce Wayne hadn't left, even when the other members of his party had. He had simply stayed and stared. Dick had at first hated him, for watching his parent's bodies like they were cheap entertainment or part of some sick fantasy. Until Dick had realized where Bruce's eyes had been.

They'd been on him. The entire time.

Dick looked up in the stands, where he knew Bruce would be. Where he'd been for the thousand times Dick had replayed this memory. A man was standing there, brown robes resting around him.

Psimon simply stood, and smiled.

Dick tried to lunge at him but found himself tumbling forward into the ground.

Instinctively, he rolled and came up on a concrete rooftop.

Looking down at himself for a second in shock, he realized he was wearing the Robin costume. He looked back up just in time to dive out of the way of a punch.

He knew this fight. It was when they'd finally cornered Zucco.

Dick dodged again and kicked the mob goon's outstretched arm. Spinning around, he hit the back of the man's head and took him out.

Batman was fighting two other men a few feet away. Out of the corner of his eye, Dick saw a figure emerge from the shadows.

He knew who it was instantly.

Zucco.

The murderer was holding a pistol and he fired at Batman. Distracted finishing the last goon, the Dark Knight didn't have time to dodge. The bullet struck him in the abdomen and he fell.

Dick rushed at Zucco, trying to come in at an angle so he'd be a hard target. Rationally, he knew that Batman had been completely fine, thanks to the heavy chest armor in his suit. But emotionally, he'd just seen the man who'd killed his real parents shoot the man who he now thought of as a father.

A quick batarang knocked the gun from the gangster's hand and Dick slammed into him with all his might. The man fell. Dick gave him two quick hits to the jaw. He pulled a razor-sharp batarang from his belt and held it like a knife, ready to carve Zucco's face off.

The man started laughing. Dick flinched. That wasn't part of the memory.

"Do your worst, kid. No matter what happens now, I'll still be the man who killed the Bat."

He pointed and Dick took a quick glance in horror. This was supposed to be the part where Batman had grabbed his arm, prevented him from doing something he would regret.

But not this time.

Batman was lying on the ground by the other two men, unnaturally still. Blood began to pool around him.

No...

Dick returned his eyes to Zucco, filling his glare with hate. The man laughed again.

"Amazing what some childhood trauma and a mask can turn someone into" said a voice. Dick looked again and saw Psimon standing not more than a few feet behind him.

"Tell me, Robin. You have so much rage for this man, this Tony Zucco. He killed your parents, did he not? He loosened the trapeze himself, out of simple greed. Tell me, why didn't you ever do to him what you dreamed of doing for months? Didn't he deserve to die for what he did?"

Dick moved his gaze from Psimon to Zucco, who was grinning, completely unintimidated by the boy on his chest.

"Batman says if we kill, then we're just like them" mumbled Dick.

"And now he's gone" said Zucco, laughing again.

"Quiet!" shouted Dick. "He's not dead! None of this is real!"

"And that, my dear Robin, is exactly the point" said Psimon. "If you kill Tony Zucco here, he won't be dead. Not really. The real Mr. Zucco will be relaxing in his nice, comfortable jail cell. You are a most interesting subject, Robin. I wish to see if you will ever give into the killer instinct inside all of us."

Robin's eyes returned to Zucco, who was still smiling.

"There are no consequences to this action" continued Psimon. "No one other than the two of us will even know this ever happened."

Robin's hand holding the batarang started trembling. Batman wouldn't know?

_But that would still mean I'd done it_ he thought.

"Here" said Psimon. "I'll make it even easier for you." An image of Rocket appeared. She was lying on a wooden floor, blood pooling around her, pouring from a wound in her chest.

"At the moment, your friend believes with all her being that she is dying. And if such stress continues, she will almost certainly suffer a severe and quite likely fatal heart attack... unless someone, such as me, does something to prevent it."

"You're lying" said Robin, more of a hope than an accusation.

"Are you willing to take that chance?" said Psimon. "Now here are your choices. One: kill a mental hallucination of the man who murdered your parents who has just killed your mentor as well, and by doing so save your friend's life. Or two: Do nothing, and watch her die for real, after which we will continue to have fun together inside your mind."

Those were not great options.

Dick looked down at Zucco... no, of the hallucination of Zucco. The man/image/whatever was still grinning at him, letting out a little chuckle every so often.

_What do I do?_

"Now do what you've been dreaming of doing for years" finished Psimon. "Kill this man. Right here. Right now."

_What else can I do?_

Dick's hands curled around the batarang. He raised it high, preparing to cut Zucco into little pieces.

_What would Batman do?_

Dick knew the answer.

He would find another way.

"Do it!" shouted Psimon.

Dick screamed in rage and threw the batarang at Psimon.

The man seemed almost amused as the weapon passed straight through him like a ghost.

As if a mental image of a batarang could harm him.

But Dick hadn't been aiming for him.

Time slowed down.

A look of shock appeared on Psimon's face as the batarang flew on past him.

And suddenly, reality exploded.

* * *

He was back in the hallway in the old Cadmus base.

Flying forth from his hand was the electric batarang he'd used to stop the MONQIs.

Which had landed on the floor by the electric barrier.

Which he'd never had the chance to pick back up.

Which hadn't been in his utility belt when Psimon threw that away.

And which he'd been crawling towards during the entire fight, without thinking about what it was.

Said batarang still had a bit of charge left in it as it crashed into the metal frame of an electric security gate.

An electric security gate whose inactive projectors Psimon happened to be standing between.

The barrier buzzed as the electric shock triggered its effect again.

A blue envelope of energy engulfed Psimon, trying to work its way around him.

Tens of thousands of volts went through the psychic's body.

He screamed.

Dick really couldn't blame him.

The power shut off as the gate's sensors detected an object stuck between them and the automatic safety protocols engaged.

Psimon collapsed as the energy retreated.

Dick-no, Robin-took a second to try and catch his breath. Again.

He looked down the hallway. Psimon wasn't moving, which was good. Further down the hall, he could see Rocket and Red Arrow, both unconscious and possibly worse. Hopefully he'd been right in guessing that Rocket would be safe if Psimon was down.

Past them was his utility belt, which would be _really_ helpful.

Robin started to get up, slowly. His head was still spinning and he took a second to rest his hand on the wall.

Then he heard a slow clapping behind him.

Slowly, he started to turn to see what manor of evil would be trying to kill him now.

"Very nice. I didn't think you would get out of that one."

The voice: He recognized it, high and girlish, but there was some other tone to it, deeper. Wrong. The second tone made it sound more like a woman in her forties.

Standing behind him was definitely a girl, only slightly taller than him. Instead of her normal suit, she wore a loose fitting red blouse and a black skirt. Her black hair was spread out over her shoulders, wild and unkempt.

"Zatanna?" Robin managed to spit out.

It had to be her, but at the same time... The grin on her face seemed... wrong, more like that of a lion on the hunt than the normally bubbly face it was a part of.

Zatanna's eyes flashed red.

"Hello, Robin."

* * *

_For the record, I wrote Psimon as half-teacher-with-unhelpful-students (in comics canon he was a professor) and half mad-scientist-psychologist. He wants to know how you tick, and if he breaks something in the process, well, there's always more where you came from.  
_

_I'm surprised he doesn't have a job at Arkham.  
_

_Just so you know, this story has really been suffering chapter inflation. For example, originally Robin, Rocket, Aqualad and Red Arrow didn't escape. It was just chapter after chapter of villains coming in, explaining how they'd been screwed over and then leaving. Then I realized exactly how boring four+ chapters of the protagonists tied to chairs would be and made some alterations. _

_Even so, Robin + Rocket vs. Psimon was supposed to be one chapter, "Psych-Out". Then I started getting really good clilffhangers and an extra idea or two and it's stretched on for almost ten._

_And I ran out of chapter titles so I had to start picking random things on the Wikipedia page for "Psychology."  
_

_Yeah._

_I've also received Takua Nui's character fate-delaying request for **ZATANNA. **Great timing, huh?  
_

_Meanwhile, back at my house:  
_

_"Onward waffle comrades! We can defeat them!"  
_

_*blasts pineapple with shotgun*  
_

_"It is said that in America, you eat food."  
_

_*fires another shotgun blast and throws a grenade down the stairs*  
_

_"But in Soviet Russia, food eat you!"  
_

_*runs out of shotgun ammo and clubs an overripe plum with it before running to the closet*_

___"However, my friends, this.."_

_*pulls out a minigun*  
_

_"...IS NOT SOVIET RUSSIA!"  
_

_*opens fire while laughing manically*  
_


	31. Shadow Strike

**DISCLAIMER:** Young Justice is owned by, I don't know, Greg Weisman, or something. Do I look like Greg Weisman? Does Greg Weisman have an army of animate food besieging his house? Speaking of which... FIRE IN THE HOLE! *explosion*

Chapter 31: Shadow Strike

Superboy hit the ground hard. Before he could recover, Sportsmaster slammed his foot into his chest.

A few yards away, M'gann pulled her legs apart and the scorched ropes around her ankles disintegrated. A pity the same wouldn't happen for the metal handcuffs keeping her wrists behind her back.

It didn't matter, though.

She had to help Conner.

M'gann lept into the air and landed on the shoulders of a nearby goon who had one of the large, red Apokoliptan weapons on his chest. Pushing off with all her might, she flew into the air again while sending the man spinning to the ground. Another goon holding a rifle started to turn around.

M'gann kicked him in the face. While she was in midair.

And Wally said those kung-fu movies on TV were 'unrealistic'.

The noise of the fighting distracted Sportsmaster. In the split second he turned to look, Conner got to his feet and gave him a hard punch to the jaw.

_That felt really good_ reflected Conner, so he threw another one. However, Sportsmaster moved his head to the left, caught his arm and threw the Kryptonian over his shoulder. The mercenary tried to stomp him again but Conner rolled out of the way and knocked Sportsmaster's legs out from under him.

M'gann landed with cheerleader grace. It was really amazing what her White Martian form could do, she decided, even though Earth had three times Mars's gravity.

Then a pair of red hovering disks appeared.

And electrocuted her.

Again.

Conner scrambled to his feet and grabbed one of the disks in his hand. It electrocuted him, but only for a second before he crushed its delicate circuitry in his fingers with a satisfying crunch. He turned towards the goon who was targeting the things (having just sent two more towards him) and threw the disk like a Frisbee. It struck the man in the head, knocking him out. The other disks shut down.

Conner felt pretty good about that, so of course, Sportsmaster chose that moment to slam his shoulder into the clone's back, sending him stumbling forwards.

M'gann recovered from the electricity fast and struck at the mercenary with a spin kick. Sportsmaster caught it in one hand and then twisted. Pain exploded in her leg as Sportsmaster shoved her aside.

Superboy charged, but Sportsmaster tapped the side of his mask again. Conner stumbled as his equilibrium was thrown into disarray and Sportsmaster caught him on the chin with a punch, and then another, and then an elbow jab to the neck, finishing with a mighty kick to the chest. Superboy fell on his back, stunned.

M'gann started to get up, but winced in pain as soon as she tried to put any weight on her left leg. Sportsmaster had twisted it pretty bad, alright.

Suddenly, the man himself turned to face her. From his belt he drew out a small pistol and aimed it at her.

M'gann could see where this was going, and desperately tried to reach out with all the psychic power she had left.

Nothing.

Sportmaster pulled the trigger, but as the gun fired, his entire arm jerked to the right and the bullet missed by several feet.

Sportsmaster tried to fire again, but his gun hand seemed to have a mind of its own as it jerked left and right. Then the gun tore itself out of his hands and flew off into the trees.

"How?" he managed to gasp. "Your powers can't be back yet. The dose was too strong!"

"Then it is a good thing she is not alone" said a flat, near-emotionless voice tinted with just a tiny bit of rage. Sportsmaster turned around as a green figure with red eyes emerged from the ground like a ghost and solidified.

"Uncle J'onn!" M'gann cried out, in sheer relief.

The cavalry had arrived.

* * *

Before the Green Martian could do anything else, Sportsmaster tapped the device on the side of his mask again. The sonic waves it projected caused the superhero to wince, giving Sportsmaster enough time to grab a small cylinder off his belt and throw it.

There was a beep as it landed near the elder Martian's feet, and he was only able to raise a hand in front of him before it exploded, knocking him a few yards away and filling the area with smoke.

"No!" shouted M'gann, but she still couldn't move to help her uncle.

However, Superboy was back and charged at Sportsmaster again.

"All units, this is Sportsmaster" the mercenary said into his radio as he dodged another series of punches. "The League is here! I repeat, Justice League reinforcements have arrived. Begin final evacuation protocols, now!"

Conner gave up on punches and tried a kick, but Sportsmaster parried it and knocked him aside before dashing into the woods. Conner started to follow him, but another gasp of pain from M'gann caused him to move towards her instead. There would be another day to deal with Sportsmaster.

* * *

Lawrence "Crusher" Crock, AKA Sportsmaster, didn't normally run from fights, but not getting stranded in the middle of Nowhere, Canada with half the Justice League after him was part of his personal "fight smart" doctrine.

So, of course, a batarang chose just that moment to embed itself in the ground in front of him.

Sportsmaster turned around to see a black V shape familiar to all criminals that had ever spent any time in Gotham City descending towards him from the treeline.

This would not end well.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Conner asked M'gann, which was probably a really dumb and cliched question, but he said it anyways.

"I'm..." M'gann took a deep breath as Conner put her arm over his shoulder and helped her up. "...I'm okay, since, you know, I'm not on fire anymore."

Conner felt rage against Sportsmaster building up inside of him again, but he suppressed it for now.

"Is my uncle alright?" M'gann asked.

"I am unharmed" said the Manhunter, emerging from the smoke from the grenade. As soon as he was close enough, his niece gave him the tightest hug she could while keeping one arm around Superboy for support.

"My telekinesis protected me from most of the shrapnel" her uncle continued. "However, I did not expect to see you in this form, M'gann."

"They... they gave me some kind of drug that suppressed my powers" she said quietly. M'gann felt like crying again as the adrenaline (or rather, the Martian equivalent) died down and the shock of revealing her true form to Conner like this finally caught up to her, but J'onn simply bent down and examined her foot. Placing his hands around her ankle, his telepathy quickly rearranged the cells back into their proper order. The pain vanished and M'gann tenderly put some weight on it again.

"Nice trick" said Superboy.

"Before you ask, I can only do it on another Martian" replied the Manhunter.

Superboy shrugged."Shouldn't we be going after Sportsmaster?" he asked.

"I believe Batman has that well in hand" replied J'onn.

* * *

Batman should have known Sportsmaster was involved in this. He'd been the opponent on too many of the Team's missions for it to be a coincidence. Santa Prisca, New Orleans, even the Taipei incident.

Sportsmaster's presence meant that there was indeed something big going on here, and made the chances of the Team being in danger even more certain.

However, now was a chance to finally bring this guy in, once and for all.

Batman lept from his perch in the trees and let his glider cape soften his fall as he flew towards Sportsmaster.

The other man turned around and touched something near his ear.

And then things went wrong.

Batman felt his balance shift and instinctive movement of his arms caused his glide to jerk from side to side.

This completely ruined his ending kick.

As Batman reached the ground, Sportsmaster lashed out at him. Batman parried the first two blows and responded with one of his own, but his footing shifted and Sportsmaster blocked it easily before striking him hard in the jaw.

It was easy to see that something was wrong here, and it didn't take the World's Greatest Detective long to figure out where he'd seen this technology.

Obviously Sportsmaster had somehow obtained a copy of Count Vertigo's signature sonic device, and that just wouldn't do.

Batman lashed out with another punch, but Sportsmaster blocked it. The Dark Knight took a couple steps back, out of range of Sportsmaster's follow-up strike.

Batman flipped open a container on his belt, dodged an attempt by Sportsmaster to grab his hand and pulled out some flash powder, which he threw at the ground between them.

The powder ignited, and in the darkness of the early north Canadian morning, it was pretty darn bright.

Batman had closed his eyes and looked away with his arm over his face.

Sportsmaster hadn't.

Batman allowed himself a little smile at the change in advantage before grabbing the headset attached to a certain blue hockey mask and ripping it off.

Sportsmaster stumbled back a little more as Batman cracked his knuckles and attacked.

To Sportsmaster's credit, considering the fact that he was half blind and in a fistfight with one of the two best martial artists in the Justice League, he blocked several punches and even returned one or two. But regardless, the fight was over.

Sportsmaster drew a hunting knife from a sheath on his leg and swung it at Batman, although more to keep him at bay than any hope of hitting him. Batman parried and knocked the knife out of his hand.

A ways off in the background, Batman could hear the shrill shriek of a canary cry and an explosion that was probably Green Arrow, along with scattered bits of gunfire that probably weren't.

There was the screeching of tires, and a pickup truck swerved out of the surrounding trees. Sportsmaster threw himself to the ground. The two men in the back took one look at the situation and opened fire.

Batman dashed to the left, his outfit and cape helping him blend into the night.

Sportsmaster stumbled once and then lept into the back of the truck.

"Go, go!" he shouted. The driver complied, doing a quick 180 and disappearing into the night.

Batman considered throwing something at them, but he had a feeling he was going to need all the ammo he had.

The Dark Knight turned around as J'onn, Superboy and what he assumed was Miss Martian appeared.

"What happened to the others?" he asked them.

"The Bioship got shot down" said Superboy. "I know Sportsmaster got Robin and Kid Flash, and Aqualad went off the radar."

"I think Artemis was captured as well" said the alien figure who did indeed appear to be Miss Martian. Batman would never understand shapeshifters.

"Are you two combat effective?" Batman asked. Superboy and Miss Martian looked at each other for a second and then nodded.

"All units report" Batman said into his glove. A second later, Red Tornado, Green Arrow and Black Canary all replied saying that all enemies in range were either incapacitated or fleeing.

"They will be holding the rest of the Team inside the main base" J'onn stated.

Batman looked at him and spoke into his glove again.

"All units, fall in. At least some of the Team has been captured. Let's go get them back."

* * *

_Sorry it took me a while, but I think I'm suffering a combination of story fatigue, general laziness/unmotivation **and** I just killed every living thing or otherwise animate object in a five mile radius of my house. (sorry, Nightingale, that includes you, but hey, I did resurrect you, didn't I?)_

_Also, as soon as I finished writing this chapter, my internet went down. And then I had to leave on vacation while my house gets repaired from all the damage it took during the battl.e. So you probably won't hear much more from me for a week._

_See ya!_


	32. Chaos Theory

**DISCLAIMER:** Let's play _Jeopardy_! Category: Disconnections. Question: The Cartoon Network show _Young Justice._ Answer: What are TV shows not owned by me? CORRECT!

Chapter 32: Chaos Theory

Robin backed up instinctively. Every one of his senses were screaming "danger".

"What happened to you?" he stammered.

"What?" said the girl with just a hint of an accent, brushing imaginary dirt off her blouse. "You don't like the skirt?"

Robin blinked once before lunging at her. Zatanna reacted with a flick of her wrist and an invisible wall of force slammed into Robin, knocking him down the corridor.

"A bit rude, aren't you?" she said, putting one hand on her hip. Her other hand glowed red and Robin felt his body go limp. A red aura began to appear around him and he slowly levitated off the ground. He couldn't move anything except his eyes and his mouth.

Not good.

Robin was well aware that Zatanna was the most powerful member of the Team, outclassing even Superboy and Miss M. Their powers had physical limits, but Zatanna was only limited by her own energy and her imagination. And normally having to say words out loud, but she seemed to have gotten over that right now.

Perfect.

"You aren't the real Zatanna, are you?" he asked.

"Well..." said the girl, tilting her head to one side as if in thought. "Yes and no. This_ is_ the same physical body you know as Zatanna, but no, she isn't home. Normally, when I possess a human host, I merely suppress their consciousness, but your friend put up such a fight that I was forced to destroy her soul completely. She's gone. No resistance, no resurrection, not even an afterlife. Zatanna Zatara no longer exists on _any_ spiritual plane."

Robin allowed himself a little gasp. He could feel despair rushing in, and he wasn't sure if he had the heart to stop it. He was weaponless and completely immobilized by an opponent who could kill him with a wave of her finger. Two of his teammates were unconscious or possibly worse at the end of the hallway, he had no idea what had happened to Kaldur, M'gann was dead, Wally had been poisoned with Joker Toxin and then frozen solid and he'd just learned it was all his fault, having been manipulated by Psimon. Then there was the thing with Artemis and he'd had to relive watching his parents die and then "seen" his mentor get shot while using more willpower than he'd even known he'd possessed in a psychic battle. _Before_ an evil possess version of one of his best friends had shown up.

So you can cut him a _little_ slack.

The girl-who-was-not-Zatanna seemed to sense his despair and gave another predatory smile

"Cheer up. Did you know that you and her father were the last things she thought about before she died? It's so sweet. And at least you can take heart in the fact that she won't have to see me do this."

The girl snapped her fingers and Robin exploded in pain. He dropped to the ground as the red aura faded, but any relief in the ability to move again was quickly lost as he fell to his knees in agony. The pain wasn't coming from any particular place, it was coming from everywhere! It felt as though all of his nerves were on fire!

The girl kneeled down beside him, not two inches away, taunting him to reach over and grab her, but he couldn't. The pain was too much.

"You know, when Klarion told me his plan to bring me onto this plane without a familiar, I didn't think it would work. 'She's too young' I said. But now that I'm here, I can tell that your little girlfriend really did have more magical potential than any other witch I've ever encountered. And her being the daughter of the newest Dr. Fate only makes this sweeter. Nabu won't stand a chance."

Robin poured all his will into one last, desperate attempt to grab at her, but not-Zatanna easily dodged, laughing.

"You know, little birdy, your mentor, Batman once defeated a student of mine. Old Felix was humiliated, and I can't really blame him. I've often wondered how those who are merely normal humans can hope to do battle with those superior to them. So far, I'm not too impressed."

Then she kicked him in the face for good measure.

Second time that day, too.

"Well, I've got to get going now, you know, things to do, people to kill, so forth. I'll probably need to get that idiot Psimon to some sort of medic or something, if I feel like it and then I'll need to find Klarion and smack him upside the head for abandoning me in Salem, and..."

She glanced at Robin, who had collapsed completely in his attempts to avoid screaming. "Oh, well, I guess I'm probably boring you now, so I'll be on my way."

"Who... are... you?" Robin was able to gasp through his clenched teeth.

"Oh, little old me?" said not-Zatanna. "You can just call me Tala, Lord of Chaos."

And then everything went black.

Again.

* * *

_Yay! I'm back! And you know for a fact that it's really me because few other people could be this evil. Plus, I think we just broke 40,000 words.  
_

_I am super SUPER sorry this took me forever. Even after I got back from my vacation, I found my schedule crowed and my motivation lacking. And then I started putting things off, and off, and off...  
_

_Plus, I got Command and Conquer 3.  
_

_How I wanted to word one particular phrase in this chapter: "So you can cut him a little slack. Because I sure won't."  
_

_Nah, we're probably about at the end of the ten straight chapters of Robin torture. Since he's dead... er, unconscious now. And I'm about out of ideas. I mean, unless the Light kidnapped Barbara Gordon or something...  
_

_For the record, Tala is normally depicted as just a regular sorceress, but since Klarion (normally just a "witch boy") got upgraded to Lord of Chaos in the actual show, I figured I could level her up too.  
_

_Although, if you want an official fan name, I generally call her "ChaosZatanna."  
_

_And no, a female Lord of Chaos is not a Lady of Chaos. That just sounds weird. Lords of Order and Chaos are probably genderless anyways.  
_

_Ally, I don't need any help repairing my house. My local construction company used to work in Metropolis, so they know how to make quick repairs.  
_

_Nightingale, the armies of fruit were sent in retribution for the excess of Robin torture, though I may have been excessively aggressive in dealing with them.  
_

_Also, I've been generating new fanfic ideas over the course of my vacation. Most of them are listed on my profile, but for the sake of convenience I thought that I'd list the DC Universe ones (Worst Case Scenario excluded) here:  
_

_Only Human:  
In a version of the DC Universe without Superman, magic or even most superpowers, the world's two greatest minds go at it after Bruce Wayne takes a business trip to Metropolis. That's right. Batman vs. Lex Luthor. Winner take all._

_Culture Shock:  
Superman has a problem. He has just met Diana of Themyscira, the world's newest superheroine. And while she certainly has the skills to back it up, there are two problems. 1) She's from an island of only women that last had meaningful contact with the rest of the world 2,500 years ago. 2) She's staying in his apartment. Hilarity ensues. Probably not shipping.  
_

_One Man Alone:  
Bruce Wayne has a problem. He went to the courthouse with the intent to murder Joe Chill in revenge for killing his parents. Instead, he accidentally saved his life. By killing a mob assassin. Who's boss, Carmine Falcone, is now out to get revenge. With no mask, no secret identity and no ninja skills, Bruce must find a way to fight crime without becoming Batman. All he has are his wits, a few allies, some good PR and 800+ million dollars. This is going to be fun.  
_

_Be sure to vote for which ones you like the most in my profile poll!  
_

_Seeya!  
_


	33. Scorched Earth

**DISCLAIMER: **By the power invested in me by the All Knowing Internet, I swear that I do not own Young Justice. Yet.**  
**

Chapter 33: Scorched Earth

Batman ran.

Granted, he ran a lot in his occupation, but anyone who had carefully studied his average running-in-the-direction-of-supervillains run (and indeed, there are such people) would notice some slight differences. His strides were wider, his movements less disciplined.

Such a person would get the feeling that he absolutely had to get to where he was going, that whatever was there was higher on his priorities list than saving the world.

Probably because it was.

Batman was vaguely aware that Green Arrow and Black Canary had appeared out of the darkness and taken up positions to either side of him, ready to blow away any enemies that might appear.

Miss Martian and Superboy were not far behind, all the heroes running at their top speeds.

J'onn and Red Tornado were flying ahead, sweeping for additional hostiles.

Nothing, save Sportsmaster's initial group. The rest (and there were certainly more) were likely holed up in the old Cadmus base.

Whoever was behind this had access to a lot of resources: Apokoliptan weaponry, state-of-the-art military drones, multiple cargo planes and a surface-to-air missile with the capability to take down a cloaked Martian Bioship. They had been in communication with Parasite when he had nearly destroyed Europe.

And Sportsmaster was involved. Again. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Something big was going on, and they were going to shut it down.

Since the only flight-capable heroes present had slowed down to avoid getting too far ahead, Sportsmaster's truck had outrun the group and disappeared.

"Batman, this is Watchtower" said Stewart over the radio. "I've got Sportsmaster on thermals. That truck has just reached the runway. There's still a C-5 there. They may be trying to take off."

"Acknowledged" said Batman, transferring the information to the others through J'onn's mental link. Red Tornado, being a robot, was not connected, but had received the transmission regardless.

"Tornado, Manhunter, intercept and neutralize" the Dark Knight ordered. "The rest of us will sweep the buildings." He swept his head back and forth, the sensors in his bat 'ears' scanning ahead for traps, bombs, cameras or hidden autoturrets (which were always annoying).

Nothing.

Either the mysterious enemy hadn't been here long or they had been very sloppy about security. And nothing about these guys had screamed sloppy.

Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

The truck reached the runway in record time. Being chased by superheroes will do that.

"Go! Go!" shouted Sportsmaster as he and the last of his men dashed up the long rear ramp. The pilots responded by flooring the throttle. The massive plane lurched forward as it began to pick up speed.

"Everybody here?" the blue-masked mercenary asked as the rear door closed. Freeze was sitting off in a corner, still working on his torn suit. The rest of the men quickly counted among themselves.

"We're missing six" replied Epsilon, the second in command.

Sportsmaster nodded in acknowledgement. "Send the signal once we're in the air."

Too bad for them.

* * *

The cargo plane was already speeding down the runway when Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado arrived.

A quick psychic sweep detected 16 humans present, though the sweep was too vague to give identities.

"Inquiry: Shall I stop it?" asked Tornado.

"No" replied J'onn. "I have this."

Simply crashing the plane, even when it was on the ground would be dangerous, both for the villains and any prisoners inside. Plus, Batman had recently released an official League Directive for all members (especially Superman) to take measures to minimize collateral damage, both for PR and to preserve evidence.

Besides, there was an easier way.

Invisible and intangible, J'onn flew over the plane, reaching the cockpit in a few seconds. He would simply phase inside and force the pilots to pull over.

The plane was moving fast enough that he wouldn't be able to go through the ceiling. Instead, the Martian flew slightly ahead of the plane and phased in through the main window.

Or rather, he would have.

Except he didn't phase through the window.

Instead, it slammed into him at 50 miles an hour.

The impact sent him spinning away and he rolled off the plane's nose and onto the ground. The C-5 rushed over him, but he was able to evade the wheels and emerged on the other side.

In the cockpit, Tala smiled as the glowing red runes on the window faded.

* * *

"Sir, we've got hostiles in pursuit!" said Tau, his voice mixing with the roar of the engines as it echoed through the plane's hold.

"I'll handle this" said Mr. Freeze, picking up a black cylinder, which, while smaller than his infamous freeze ray, was still impressive.

Sportsmaster smiled and nodded.

"Do it."

* * *

"Tornado!" shouted J'onn, lying flat on the runway. "Destroy the engines!"

Sometimes the second-simplest method was required.

Red Tornado picked up speed, moving off to the plane's left. Down below, a door opened on the side, and there was a flash of blue light.

Tornado froze in shock. And, well, because the temperature around him had just dropped 80 degrees, coating him in ice.

And then he started falling.

* * *

J'onn's head was spinning, but he saw Red Tornado plummeting towards the ground.

Mustering all his will, the Martian reached out telekinetically and caught the android a few feet from the ground, keeping him from shattering into so many pieces that they'd never put him back together again.

J'onn started to get back to his feet. There was still time to stop the plane.

And then something exploded.

* * *

"We're almost at the southernmost building" Batman said over the mental link. "We'll sweep that and move on from there. Expect heavy resistance and a possible hostage situation." Everyone knew what that meant. If the bad guys got desperate, they_ would_ use their prisoners as hostages.

A chainlink fence surrounded the inner part of the base, but a simple thermite bomb blew straight through it. Batman didn't even slow down as he dashed past an empty guard tower.

The first building was simple, only a single floor (though, of course, the first Project Cadmus had seemed a mere two stories). It's white plaster walls were cracked from harsh winters and poor maintenance. The windows were dark and cracked.

They were thirty feet away now.

Fire ripped through the building, shattering the windows and scorching the plaster. As Batman skidded to a stop, raising one hand on instinct to cover his head, similar explosions ripped through the other two buildings. Smaller demolition charges shattered the support pillars, and one by one, the buildings crumbled into rubble.

Nothing (except Superman) could have survived.

* * *

The explosion broke J'onn's concentration, and he dropped Tornado. Fortunately, the frozen robot was close enough to the ground that he didn't break, but he was definitely out of the fight.

J'onn tried to get to his feet, but his balance was still off.

The plane lifted off into the sky and disappeared.

Literally. As if it had faded from existence.

Batman and the others appeared and everyone took a second to catch their breath. M'gann was crying into Superboy's shoulder.

"They're all gone" she whispered.

"There was nothing in those buildings" said Green Arrow. "The bad guys knew we were coming and were pulling out anyways."

Batman's eyes narrowed. "And they didn't want to leave any evidence behind" he said. The Dark Knight touched his earpiece.

"Watchtower, this is Batman. We lost them."

"Batman!" replied Green Lantern. "All the cargo planes just vanished off the radar! The Canadian Air Force has fighters in the area, but there's nothing they can do!"

"The planes are equipped with Martian camouflage" said J'onn.

"Are you sure?" asked Black Canary.

"I am certain" replied the elder Martian. M'gann looked down at the ground, trying to suppress more tears.

"So we have no way of tracking them" said Conner. He scanned the air with his super-vision, but didn't see any sign of the plane. Suddenly, he winced and covered his ears.

"What's wrong?" asked Black Canary, M'gann and Green Arrow simultaneously.

"Can you hear that?" Conner asked, trying to suppress the pain in his head.

"I didn't hear anything" said Green Arrow. "It must be a ultrasonic."

"Well, it's gone now" said Conner as the buzzing faded away to ringing in his ears. "What do you think it was?"

"I don't know" said Batman. "But it may be our only lead. Lantern, we're going to have to get the rest of the League down here, see what we can dig up."

"Okay, but they aren't going to like this" replied Stewart, signing off.

"Whoever these guys are..." said Green Arrow "They're good."

"And they have the rest of the Team prisoner as well" said J'onn.

Batman's eyes narrowed, in the way he normally reserved for villains on par with the Joker.

"Then this is war."

* * *

_TO BE CONTINUED!  
_

_Another long break between updates. Sorry. And I might as well tell you that I won't really be able to write much more this week or next. Important free-time-absorbers.  
_

_But you know back a while ago when I said this was going to be a 32-33 chapter story?  
_

_I lied.  
_

_Or, to be more accurate, when I said that, chapters 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 30 were all one chapter.  
_

_In fact, we are now at the end of **ACT 2 of 3**. Heh heh heh...  
_

_(For the record, Act 1 ended around Chapter 11, with Tigress's revelation)  
_

_Each act is approximately what would be in one TV episode. This would be a three-parter.  
_

_In response to reviews:  
_

_Wow, Nightingale. I never realized you had such anger for Zatanna. I'll be sure to bring her back just for you.  
_

_(The previous sentence was a lie)  
_

_And for the record, GangsterGirl-Crush, I am not crazy. I'm just evil.  
_

_See you all again!  
_

_(Please don't kill me)  
_


	34. On Ice

**DISCLAIMER**: Did you know that the property rights to Young Justice are kept in a secure vault in the Batcave next to all the kryptonite with 18-inch thick lead-lined steel walls and a three-part time-delayed combination lock with high level computer encryption controls? Well, I suppose it wouldn't be any fun if it was _too_ easy...

Chapter 34: On Ice

Cold.

Wally West was cold.

He hadn't been cold like this since he'd run across the entire country in an artificially-created nation-wide blizzard.

_Eat it, Vertigo_.

A light blue mist washed over him, and it sounded like a voice was calling to him.

"Wally? Wally, wake up. Wally?"

A figure came into view. A blurry humanoid shape of green and yellow that slowly came into focus.

He was lying down in some sort of trough, with cold blue liquid beading off of his uniform and draining away.

"A...Artemis?" he asked, confused. Where was he, anyways? And why was it so cold? It was hard to remember...

And then the archer bent over and did something he'd never ever thought she'd ever do.

She wrapped her arms around is neck and she kissed him.

On the lips.

Not that he hadn't been secretly wishing that would happen for a while now, even before he'd realized M'gann and Conner were dating. (God, he'd been an idiot!) But Artemis was the only girl who'd completely ignored his charms from Day 1. He'd always assumed she wasn't interested in him, that she thought of them like siblings, or maybe even just friends, or worst of all, co-workers.

And now she was kissing him. Completely unprovoked.

How had he missed Hell freezing over?

Actually, considering how cold he was, that might not be a bad theory. You know, if Hell existed. Of course, Kent probably believed in it. Maybe he should ask Nabu about it...

All of this ran through his head in the time it took Artemis to realize what she was doing and pull away, embarrassed. Wally took advantage of this moment to appreciate exactly how little of Artemis's midriff her costume actually covered.

"S-sorry" she muttered, blushing. "It's just, I thought you were dead, and I'd never gotten to tell you how I really felt, and I was so relieved that you were alright..."

Wally laughed. He didn't mean to. It just sort of came out. He didn't even know why he thought it was funny.

Artemis slapped him. That woke him up.

"What the hell is wrong with you, West?" she demanded, back to her old, lovable, grouchy self. "Can't a girl admit she loves you without you ruining the moment?"

"Er..." muttered Wally, rubbing his forehead. He tried to sit up, but his hand slipped on the side. He had at the moment what was probably the world's worst case of brainfreeze. No pun intended.

Wally let out another little giggle but stopped it and took a deep breath.

"I remember now" he said. "Something was messing with my brain. We were running, and I couldn't stop laughing, and Robin and SB..."

He bolted upright and scanned the room quickly (even for him). "Where are the others?" he asked.

Artemis followed his gaze. It was small, not much more than twenty feet either way and looked like some cross between a bathroom, a walk-in freezer and one of those weird New-Age spas. Everything was either white tile or silver metal. A digital console sat on one wall.

No one else was there.

"I haven't seen any of them since they Bioship went down" Artemis said, helping him out of what now looked a lot like a raised bathtub. "I got taken out pretty fast, I'm embarrassed to say. Woke up handcuffed to a chair a few rooms over."

"How did you escape?" asked Wally. This meant they probably weren't at some weird League hospital the mentors had conveniently forgotten to mention, a la Watchtower, which meant they'd probably been captured.

"Please" replied Artemis, sounding almost offened. "I've been able to get out of handcuffs since I was five."

Wally decided to save further questions about _that_ for another day. He'd probably get another "ninja boyfriend" excuse, but he _would_ ask.

"There weren't any guards around, so went looking for a way out and found you in a block of ice. Good thing there was a big 'unfreeze' button over there" she said, gesturing to a control panel. "So, why'd they put you on ice?"

"I think I took a dose of Joker Toxin" said Wally, wiping the last bits of the blue liquid off his clothes. "Not sure how, though. I don't think it was gas or injection. I guess my metabolism burned through a lot of it, but I shouldn't have recovered that easily."

He looked down at his wrist, where a small red dot was rapidly being eradicated by his enhanced healing factor, which was also good at getting rid of bruises from crashing into things at high speed. If his systems hadn't been slowed down by being frozen, it probably would have been gone by now.

"Is that...?" began Artemis.

"An needle hole. Someone gave me an injection while I was out. It must have been something to counter the poison."

"So they wanted you to live, then?" asked the archer.

"I guess so." Wally shrugged, shaking what remained of the liquid from his body not unlike a giant, red-headed yellow dog. "Their mistake. I'll teach them to mess with KID FLASH, speedster extraordinaire!"

Said extraordinaire started to prove this by running back and forth across the room at high speed, but he promptly stumbled, grabbing the tub for support.

Artemis rolled her eyes.

"I don't understand..." muttered Wally. "My speed is... gone."

"Maybe being poisoned and then frozen had something to do with it?" said the archer, sarcastically.

"Right" muttered Wally. "It'll probably come back soon enough. But for now we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way." He turned to Artemis. "What do you say we find the others and then get out of here?"

"Yeah... How about I take point, Speedy McSlowpants?"

Now Wally rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Whatever. Let's go."

He really liked it better when she was kissing him for no reason whatsoever.

* * *

_Who says this story is _completely_ anti-Spitfire? Oh yeah. Me.  
_

_The reason this chapter took so long is because I kept going back and forth between this or having a chapter of the Light talking ominously about vague things that don't really tell you anything. They're very good at that, by the way.  
_

_Also, I had to go re-watch "Coldhearted" to get in the proper frozen-KF mood._

_To lilo202: I while I would ordinarily be happy to oblige your request for further Robin torture, I cannot because he is dead, er, I mean unconscious. Besides, I need to get back to torturing everyone else for a while, okay?  
_

_To Nightingale: Adult Zatanna is a perfect match for Batman. She's the only one of his love interests without a criminal record! Besides, why can't we have Bat/Zatanna in this story?  
_

_Oh yeah, because Batman's 20 years older than her, is/was friends with her dad and she suffered complete soul destruction. You don't get any deader than that.  
_

_Unless I say so.  
_


	35. Postive Returns

**DISCLAIMER**: Blah, blah, blah, don't own _Young Justice_, blah blah blah fishsticks.

Chapter 35: Positive Returns

Raquel opened her eyes and screamed.

Then she stopped for a second and took a deep breath.

Both of which were rather surprising, seeing as she distinctly remembered _dying_.

Also, her hands and feet were cuffed to a chair. Wonderful.

"Girl's awake" said a rather bored male voice.

"I noticed" said another one, sarcastically. "One hell of a soprano, I'll give her that."

Raquel quickly glanced around the room. It was small, with concrete walls and a single steel door. Two men in some kind of uniform were sitting in chairs by a folding table, blocking any route to the door. They both had large shotguns.

"Where... where am I?" asked Raquel, panting as the panic began to recede.

"Welcome to Aguila Base, darling" said one of the men. "We hope you enjoy your stay at our fine establishment as much as your friend is." He gestured to her right with his gun. Raquel turned her head to look at a figure hunched over in the corner.

Kaldur.

The Atlantean was not looking good. The better part of his shirt had been blasted off and there were black scorch marks on his chest. He had a black eye and a little drip of dried blood around his mouth. He was unconscious.

His hands were secured behind him in heavy-duty bindings that covered everything up to his wrist, designed by police specifically for prisoners with super-strength.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded, feeling rather protective and sounding a whole lot braver than she felt.

"Oh, him? He kept trying to break free" said Guard Number 1. "Wouldn't take no for an answer. It took eight shocks before he finally passed out. His pain resistance is quite impressive."

"Shocks..." whispered Raquel. The guard pointed at a small black ring around Kaldur's neck. Raquel realized that one was around hers as well.

"Those" said Guard Number 2, holding up a small remote "are standard issue Belle Reve inhibitor collars. You do something we don't like..."

He pressed the button and pain exploded through Raquel.

"Understand? Now sit tight. The tube should be online in an hour or two. Then you'll be get to have all sorts of fun at..." The other guard smacked him.

"Don't say anything else, man! Sports seemed pretty pissed."

"Oh please. Besides, it's not like she can do anything about it."

"Just shut up and watch them."

Raquel gritted her teeth as the pain from the collar slowly began to fade away. Somehow it was even worse than when Artemis... when she...

Raquel realized she was shaking, blocking out the memory.

_Get it together, Raquel. It wasn't real. It couldn't have been real..._

Could it?

She was back in her Rocket uniform (minus the oh-so-helpful inertia belt), so that was a difference. Kaldur's injuries were different than those she'd seen in the hospital. And her chest was remarkably intact for being stabbed to death.

So she probably hadn't agreed to give up being Rocket and she probably hadn't been murdered by Artemis. That was... progress.

Maybe.

At least it meant that some more of the Team might still be alive.

_So those memories were... some kind of illusion?_

Psimon. It was so obvious. He'd planted some kind of vision in her head to torture her. That should be easy enough if he was able to control her body.

Which _had_ been real. That she was sure of. She'd really been his puppet. She'd really poisoned Zatanna. She'd really thrown Red Arrow into a ten-thousand volt electric barrier. Had he survived? He had to. He _had_ too!

And what about Robin? When she'd blacked out, he'd been alone against Psimon. What chance would he have had? What had he been forced to see?

And then, of course, there was still traitor Artemis, frozen Kid Flash and dead M'gann. Plus whatever had happened to Superboy. Trying to keep track of what was real or not was getting confusing.

But she was sure of a few things now.

She was alive.

Kaldur was alive.

They were tied up in a room with two armed men staring at them with shotguns and electric shock collars.

In a few hours they were going to be transferred to somewhere, and it probably wasn't going to be an ocean-side condo in Hawaii.

Everything else could wait. First, she needed to figure out a way out of this room. She'd been useless the first time they'd broken free. Not this time.

She was Rocket, and she was going to break out.

* * *

_Hey! We're almost at 150 reviews! Yay!  
_

_To celebrate, here's another chapter which doesn't actually answer any of your questions from the last one.  
_

_The reason these are taking so long now is because this part of the story is not nearly as well planned out as the beginning was. I wasn't really sure how this was going to go. You wouldn't think it would take half a week to come up with a chapter about two people tied to chairs, but figuring out who's where and with whom proved to be a bit of a challenge._

_This is also an example of "competent superhero imprisonment," something a great many supervillains seem to have a very hard time with. Ideally, everyone would be in separate rooms, but there are only so many tables to handcuff people to.  
_

_Onward!  
_


	36. Unlikely Relationships

**DISCLAIMER: **Hey! Here's the 'Buy _Young Justice_' button! *click* "Insufficient funds." Aww...

Chapter 36: Unlikely Relationships

_Ow..._

"Rise and shine, pretty boy."

_...Huh...?_

Roy opened his eyes. Everything was so bright.

No, that was just him. Probably a side effect of time spent unconscious after _being electrocuted_.

He didn't know how or why Rocket had switched sides, but she was going to pay for that. Right after Artemis.

"Hey!" came an annoyed female voice, combined with fingers snapping in his face. "Red-themed archery man! Wake up already!"

Roy blinked a couple of times as his eyes adjusted to reveal a mop of black hair around a smiling cat mask.

"Finally" said the woman, folding her arms and leaning back in her chair. "You have no idea how long I've been sitting here watching you."

Cheshire. Watching him lying unconscious for an indeterminate amount of time. Of course. Only she would be _that_ creepy.

He quickly scanned the rest of the room, which was rather small and seemed more like a storage room. Concrete walls, metal door with Cheshire in another chair between him and it. Add in a two-way mirror and it could be any one of dozens of police interrogation rooms he'd seen.

Cheshire removed her mask and dumped it on the table, revealing her surprisingly attractive face. She was awfully relaxed for guarding a dangerous prisoner, but he could tell she had at least two sias on her belt and a couple of other weapons tucked into various parts of her tunic, though whether they were meant for him or someone else he wasn't sure.

So. Current situation:

_I'm handcuffed to a chair in a small room with a dangerous League of Shadows assassin/really hot girl/creepy stalker person staring at me_.

Really not how he'd been expecting his day to go.

"Say? Why is it that we only ever meet when one of us is locked up or trying to kill the other?" Cheshire asked, sighing wishfully.

"Because you're evil?" he asked.

Oddly enough, she didn't slap him, like he'd been expecting. Instead, she chuckled.

"I guess we kind of are in the wrong lines of work for a serious relationship" she said.

"You could always change that" Roy said.

"So could you" said Cheshire pointed out.

"Not happening" the archer replied.

"That's what Artemis said."

Roy narrowed his eyes. "I'm not like her."

"Really?" Cheshire replied. "You know that things aren't that black and white. Good guy, bad guy. It's all relative. Who's to say that the Justice League aren't the bad guys? Protecting those who don't deserve protection? Master Ra's would say so. He'd say that he's trying to save the world from itself."

"Through contract killings and genocidal usage of superweapons? Sorry, but I'm not taking morality lessons from Ra's al Ghul."

"The point is… things are changing. The Justice League isn't going to last much longer. I don't know all the details, but there's a plan in motion. It can't be stopped. And when it's over, anyone in or associated with the League will, you know…"

Cheshire glanced down at the floor, as if what she was trying to say something she really didn't want to say. Roy had never thought that an assassin would feel awkward about saying the phrase "be killed."

"I…" she muttered. "I don't want you to get hurt, when it all goes down. If you get out now, they'll probably leave you alone."

"Is that what Artemis did?" said Roy, anger rising in his voice. "Run away? The League will endure. It has to. One way or another."

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Seriously" said Cheshire, breaking the silence. "Why can't we just have a normal date sometime? No hero/villain trying-to-kill-each-other nonsense. Just a guy and a girl at a restaurant or something. I'm not picky."

Roy was vaguely aware of the look of absolute bewilderment on his face.

"Look" said Cheshire in a this-is-the-serious-part-of-the-talk voice. "I'm interested in you. I think you're interested in me. Isn't there something we can do together that doesn't involve me beating you up?"

The problem was, he _was _interested. Which was weird, considering they'd only met like four times, and all of those times had involved physical violence. There was no rational reason to think that such a relationship would end in any way other than with one or both of them in handcuffs or on a slab.

Damn you, hormones.

The fact that he currently _was_ in handcuffs didn't help his reasoning.

"You can't leave either of these lives behind that easily" said Roy.

"Look at us" said Cheshire, laughing again. "A real Romeo and Juliet story." Her laugh _was_ pretty cute.

_Priorities, Roy_ he ordered himself. _Put figuring out how to date a supervillain on the backburner and instead figure out how to escape, find the others and hunt down the traitors._

"Yeah..." he muttered, awkwardly. "Of course, they both ended up dead, so that doesn't bode very well."

"But they had fun while it lasted, didn't they?" asked Cheshire.

"I guess they did" Roy admitted.

The assassin leaned forwards, very catlike, of course.

"I cannot disobey my master" she said. "But my orders are to keep you in this room, with the handcuffs on. So I still think I can do this."

And then she kissed him.

It was a long kiss, longer than the one in New Orleans, which seemed to have been meant more as a distraction than anything else.

He returned the kiss as best his could (with his hands and feet cuffed to a chair) and soon she had her arms wrapped around him.

To say that it felt really, really good would be the understatement of the year.

Finally, she stopped and stared into his eyes, her arms still tight around him.

"How was that?" she asked.

"Great" he responded, leaning forward for another, which the girl obliged.

Suddenly, Roy caught her foot in his and threw all his weight forward. Cheshire lost her balance and he fell, chair and all, right on top of her.

Before Cheshire could react, Roy slammed his left knee into her solar plexus, driving air from her lungs. Twisting his body around, he savagely struck her temple with his elbow, once, twice, three times.

And then the assassin was still.

Roy rolled off her onto his side and took a few deep breaths. Well, the hard part was out of the way. Now to separate himself from this chair.

He didn't have time to rummage through her pockets to try and find some keys, so he pulled one of her sias off her belt. The angle was really awkward, but he was able to stick the point of the blade into the lock and in a second or two, his hands were free. In the same span of time, his legs were liberated as well.

Pulling off her belt, he tied her hands and put one of her garters over her mouth, making sure she could still breathe, of course.

He didn't have a lot of time until Cheshire woke up and sounded the alarm. Or dumped him.

Roy quickly pulled out anything he could out of the folds of her tunic (which was _not_ creepy, he had to inform himself sternly). If anything, Cheshire probably would have liked it.

He got two sias, what he was pretty sure was a smoke bomb, a tightly would piece of cable with a claw (presumably a grappling hook of some sort) and what definitely looked like keys to the door. Sure enough, they unlocked it.

He was ready for anything when he opened the door, but it was just another empty hallway. Lucky him.

Roy took one last look at the unconscious Cheshire and felt a twinge of... something. Regret? Guilt?

_Man, my love life is screwed up._

* * *

_Aww... What a cute couple!  
_

_To Nightingale: Did someone say torture? Heh, heh, heh. But with regards to Jason Todd: There is no reason for him to be Robin while Dick Grayson is still Robin, and there is no reason for him to become the Red Hood without being Robin first. So there are three ways I could work him into Young Justice:_

_1. Kill Dick Grayson._

_ 2. Injure or traumatize Dick Grayson to the point that he gives up being Robin and retires. Already on the way towards this, I suppose.  
_

_3. Make Dick Grayson become Nightwing. However, for that to make any sense, I'll have to perform a time skip to say, oh, five years in the future._

_ To YJluvr44: As a matter of fact, you are the 150th reviewer! Congrats. No prizes though. Sorry.  
_

_Oh yeah. If any of you have any idea how anyone here plans on escaping, do tell.  
_


	37. Shifted Perspectives

**DISCLAIMER**: This story is a fanfiction based on the TV show _Young Justice_, which I do not own. Hence the use of the word fanfiction.

Chapter 37: Shifted Perspectives

_Ow..._

Robin's head hurt. He brought up a hand to rub his forehead... except he couldn't.

Great. Captured _again_.

He was lying on his side on a hard concrete floor. The reason he couldn't move his hand quickly became apparent. His arms were pinned behind him sealed in heavy shackles usually reserved for those with super-strength. His ankles where also handcuffed together, the middle chain being wrapped around a pipe protruding from the wall. And it appeared that he was wearing a standard-issue power inhibitor shock collar.

Someone really didn't want him leaving.

"Tsk" came a voice. "I suppose you're awake now, aren't you?"

Robin recognized that voice, though he wished with all his heart that he didn't.

Tala.

Sure enough, the girl formerly known as Zatanna Zatara was sitting in a folding chair on the other end of an otherwise unremarkable concrete room. She was still wearing the same outfit that she'd had on when they'd seen each other before, and Robin absentmindedly wondered if she'd had it prepared or had simply magicked it up.

Tala sighed and tossed the old leather book she'd been reading on the card table next to her.

"I suppose I better get this over with. According to that imbecile Sportsmaster, I am to guard you for the next two hours, after which you will be transferred over to another location they refer to as 'Gemini Base'."

A two hour layover, huh? Not much time to break out. Well, Robin did always love a challenge.

Tala rubbed her forehead. "Feel free to cry or have a mental breakdown or whatever it is you humans do at times like this but _please_ be quiet when you do it. Not only am I saddled with the peasantly duty of guarding you, leaving me unable to properly resume my work in the mystic arts, but I have a slight migraine. It must have been all the struggling your friend put up before she, well, you know. Died."

"Tala" said Robin, narrowing his eyes. "When I get out of here, and I will, you can be certain I'll..."

"You'll what?" asked Tala in a bored tone. "Kill me? You can't kill me. This body, maybe, if you got lucky, but I can always find another."

Robin silently fumed that he'd even considered that. Even if killing wasn't the exact opposite of what he had been taught and believed in, there was still the fact that Tala looked like and talked an awful lot like Zatanna.

And wasn't there the tiniest, tiniest chance that some part of Zee was still inside there? Could he really kill his friend in order to avenge her?

Robin stared into Tala's eyes, looking for a tiny hint, anything that Zatanna was still in there somewhere.

Nothing.

Maybe he'd just kick Tala in the face and send her to Belle Reve Extreme Containment.

"But I _am_ going to get out of here" he added. No reason to let her have the last word.

"If you say so" said Tala with a wave of her hand as she re-opened her book. "_Gag mih_." White fabric appeared out of thin air and wrapped around his mouth.

Okay,_ that_ was a reason to let her have the last word.

Ah well, the conversation was wasting time anyways. He had more important things to do.

Like escaping.

* * *

Darkness.

There was a darkness surrounding her, compressing her to the size of a pea, if that big. She couldn't move, couldn't breath, couldn't think.

She wasn't even sure if she was alive.

She could tell the others were in trouble, but what could she do? All she knew was that any movement, any attempt to fight back, and she would be found.

She would be destroyed.

And in that tiny little hole she had managed to dig for herself, Zatanna Zatara cried.

* * *

_Heh, heh, heh..._

_**Important clarifying statement**: I have no active plans to bring Jason Todd into this story. I was in fact listing why asking me to bring him in might be a bad idea for any Robin fans out there. I do have one idea for an appearance in the more distant future, but for right now the Team will have to have this Robin or no Robin. Quite possibly the latter.  
_

_And Nightingale: Exploding Batmobiles? Really? I mean Batplanes, sure, those get shot down all the time, but Batmobiles? Those things are expensive, you know!  
_

_Also, props to Rogue42197 for a LOT of reviews. At the same time. Wow.  
_


	38. Internal Disputes

**DISCLAIMER**: Yes. I own _Young Justice_. If you've been reading this fic at all, you'll know that I _never_ lie or say intentionally misleading things...

Chapter 38: Internal Disputes

**Quebec, Quebec**

**December 28, 08:24 EST**

Batman, Black Canary, and Superboy strode into the warehouse, an old building formerly owned by LexCorp Canada, and now rented by a local textiles company, which most definitely wasn't a front for the Justice League.

Green Arrow and the recently-thawed Red Tornado had stayed behind at the Chidley lab to oversee the Canadian military's securing and processing of the site.

Ordinarily, Batman would have done it himself. The media didn't call him "the World's Greatest Detective" for nothing.

But he had an idea to track down the Team, and that required him getting back to civilization. It had been over 4 hours since his strike force had arrived at Cape Chidley and he was anxious to get working on something, _anything_ that could try to get Dick back.

Part of him felt guilty

Superboy and Miss Martian had had quite enough for one day, and Batman figured they could use some time with Canary and J'onn, the closest thing he had to parents for them. The rest of Miss Martian's family was on Mars, and Superboy, well... you know.

As the door behind them slide shut and locked, he activated a panel under a tarp as J'onn and Miss Martian (who was apparently stuck in her current form, for at least the next few hours) phased in through the floor. Batman had figured that the fewer people who saw an unfamiliar alien walking around, the better, and M'gann had reluctantly agreed.

Light from scanners built into the ceiling ran over the group, confirming that they were the only ones present. The last thing the League needed was an invisible supervillain discovering a zeta tube. Typing a few numbers into a previously hidden keypad caused the side of one of the crates to slide back, revealing the circular inner workings of a zeta beam tube.

"Lantern" he said into his radio as he prepared to enter the tube, the others right behind him. "We're beaming to the Cave. Any progress?"

"Uh, actually, Batman..." replied John Stewart in one of those you're-going-to-hate-this-but-you'll-be-madder-if-I-don't-say-it tones. "There's something you should..."

"Recognize, Batman 02" said the tube's AI as a flash of light engulfed him.

**Mt. Justice  
**

**December 28, 07:31 EST  
**

"...know" finished Stewart as Batman emerged from the teleporter.

Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman were standing in the Cave's 'reception area.'

They didn't look happy.

Superboy, Canary, J'onn and Miss Martian materialized behind him. Only J'onn had no sign of surprise on his face, though this was probably because he rarely had any sign of anything on his face.

"Batman" said Superman. "We need to talk."

* * *

"What. Is. Taking so long?" demanded Sportsmaster, slamming his fist down on the desk.

"You know" said the middle-aged, brown-hair man at the computer "That doesn't really help me concentrate."

In the back of the room, Black Manta chuckled.

"You said that the calculations would take minutes!" growled Sportsmaster.

"And I was wrong."

Sportsmaster pulled a hunting knife off his belt and held it rather close to the other man's throat.

"If you're lying to me, Kuttler, or stalling in any way, I swear I will..."

"Why on _earth_ would I be stalling?" replied other man, turning so that he was face-to-face with the mercenary. "If I'd turned traitor, the League _would already be here_."Sportsmaster had to admit the guy had a point. But not out loud.

"Look, if you, with your MIT education, want to try to calculate the exact positions necessary to teleport between two different locations on a massive sphere that's moving through space at 17,000 miles per hour and _spinning_, be my guest. If not, I suggest you make sure that there is no way for the Justice League to trace them once we get there."

Sportsmaster growled again and muttered something under his breath, but put the knife away.

"I guess the moral of this story is 'don't break the priceless alien supercomputer'" said Manta.

"We weren't supposed to need it" said Sportsmaster. "The League got there too fast."

"You mean you got out too slow" replied Manta. "I seem to recall that your team was the last to pull out. What were you guys doing, playing hide-and-go-seek with a Martian and a superclone?"

"Look" said Sportsmaster, staring into what were probably Manta's eyes. "I was following Bee's orders. She's no Sun Tzu, but I still follow orders. Got it?"

"I think I'll go check on the prisoners, again" said Manta. "Make sure none of your men have let them escape yet."

Sportsmaster resisted an urge to flip Manta off on the grounds that it would be unprofessional. "Fine. I'm gonna check on Freeze. Kuttler, get that damn thing online. Understand?"

"You're the boss" said Kuttler, complete with a mock salute.

Sportsmaster rolled his eyes as he exited the room.

Why did the techies always have to be so snarky?

* * *

_So Manta and Sportsmaster have a bit of professional rivalry going on. What else is new?  
_

_Batplanes are expensive too, but they get shot down so often that Batman simply buys them in bulk. Batmobiles, on the other hand, have been scientifically proven to be 85 times less effective in anti-personnel, anti-vehicular, anti-aircraft and anti-structural roles **after** they have exploded.  
_

___Oh, yeah. The new guy is Noah Kuttler, AKA the Calculator. Look him up, if you wish._

_For the record, a basic timeline of these events goes like this:  
_

_ Team gets assignment around 4:30 Eastern Time.  
_

_ Team arrives at Cape Chidley around 6 local time, which is already dark during the winter that far north. This is like 8 PM Eastern Time. Bioship is shot down not long after, and everyone but Conner is captured by midnight (11 PM EST).  
_

_ Close to midnight, Eastern Time (almost 6 hours later) Batman's force deploys. They arrive around 4 AM and the fighting ends around 5.  
_

_Just thought I'd clarify all that. It gets confusing since Happy Harbor, the Watchtower, Quebec and Cape Chidley are all in different time zones. Look it up on wikipedia if you're still confused and actually care about it.  
_

_To Ally: I keep track of these different plot threads via notes, hard work, mental effort and a really good whiteboard flowchart. Okay, I don't actually have a whiteboard flow chart, but I shoud.  
_

_Also, don't worry. I think this is as split up as the story will ever get, and you'll see KF/Artemis next chapter. And maybe finally get some answers...  
_

_Nah.  
_


	39. Unusual Explanations

**DISCLAIMER: **My ownership of _Young Justice_ is currently somewhat lacking. Great.

Chapter 39: Unusual Explanations

The hallways were pretty bare, just grey concrete, with the occasional door, most of which lead to small rooms that were also made of (guess what) concrete.

The interior decorators had obviously done this one on their day off.

Wally would have been bored out of his skull if he wasn't paranoidly trying to avoid people who were _trying to kill him_.

Of course, he wasn't sure that they were necessarily trying to kill him, but since they'd handcuffed Artemis to a chair, frozen him and the one or two guys he'd seen patrolling were wielding large guns, it was probably a good guess.

Artemis peeked around a corner before jerking her head back and frantically motioning for him to duck into one of the empty rooms.

Two men walked by, but it didn't look like they'd seen anything.

Artemis carefully stuck her head out to see that it was all clear, and started to move back into the hallway.

Before she could turn around, a figure appeared out of nowhere and a fist smashed into her jaw. Wally lept at the hostile but received a knee to the stomach and a shove, knocking him backwards.

Artemis stumbled a bit and tried to take a combat stance. The red-tinted figure slammed into her into the wall. When her vision focused again, there was an arm pressing on her throat and a sai blade hovering much too close to her jugular vein.

Wally sprang to his feet, ready to fight off whoever was attacking his girlfr-, er, teammate. Then he noticed the close-cropped red hair quite similar to his own, and he stopped. The newcomer turned his head, and Wally met two eyes covered by a black domino mask.

"Roy?" the speedster gasped.

"Stay back, or I kill her" said the elder archer in his (extremely effective) this-is-totally-not-a-joke voice. The sai blade stayed at Artemis's throat, and she'd stopped struggling out of fear of slashing her own neck.

"Please! Stop! You don't underst-" she started to say before a shift of Roy's arm cut off her air.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" shouted Wally, much too loudly for their being in a base full of enemies. But one of his best friends was holding another of his friends who he'd just _kissed_ a few moments ago hostage, and if that isn't the time for shouting, then what is?

"You didn't know" said Roy, more a statement than a question. His eyes softened a bit, as if some of the anger was evaporating. But the sai didn't waver.

"Didn't know what?" demanded Wally, almost as irritated as that time Conner broke the TV remote. Twice. On purpose. "What I know is that you just attacked us out of the blue!"

"She's a traitor!" responded Roy. "The mole! She set us up!"

Wally opened his mouth to say something so amazingly clever that Roy would have to shut up.

And he stayed there. With his mouth open.

He had nothing to say.

_He always had something to say!_

"Her father's Sportsmaster" continued Roy. "Her sister's Cheshire. She's been feeding them intel from the beginning. That's how they took down the Bioship. That's how we lost M'gann. She poisoned you with Joker Toxin herself!"

Wally didn't want to believe it. He _couldn't_ believe it.

"Art-" he started to say. But then he saw the look in her eyes as she guiltily made eye contact with the floor. It was the same look he'd had whenever Mom had caught him stealing cookies out of the tin. (Which, despite his super-speed was more often than you'd think.)

It all made so much sense.

Why Artemis had kept her past a secret. Why she was always hiding off by herself. Why she'd 'screwed up' in New Orleans.

She was the mole.

Wally blinked a couple of times.

And then something in him snapped and he blew up like the Yellowstone supervolcano.

"I trusted you!" he shouted. He probably would have started strangling her himself, but Roy was in the way.

"You used me! All that time we spent together, all those missions as a team, all those times we bailed each other out... and you were working for _them_? So why'd you break me out, anyways? Was that another part of your evil plan? And that kiss..."

"What kiss?" asked Roy, unprofessionally (though he'd never admit it) curious.

Artemis used his distraction to slam her knee into his thigh as her right hand knocked the sai away from her neck. A quick elbow jab knocked Roy backwards and she took a few steps down the hall, trying to stay out of range.

The blonde archer coughed into her elbow and rubbed her throat.

"_Will you two listen for three seconds?_"

Wally was about to charge her at the highest speed he could manage (which, regrettably, was not all that much at the moment) but that sentence was just... so... _Artemis_ that he stopped. Roy recovered and held both of his sai in a combat position, but he too stayed where he was.

"I'm not a mole" said Artemis. "Well, I am. Sort of. It's complicated."

"Un-complicate it" said Roy. That wasn't a suggestion.

"I am related to Cheshire and Sportsmaster, but I'm not like them! I started the hero gig on my own. Then, after that fight with the superpowered robot..."

"AMAZO" interrupted Wally. _Man_ that thing had been cool when it wasn't trying to kill him.

"Yeah, whatever. Then Batman and Green Arrow approached me. They wanted me for the Team. They said I was GA's niece so I could... escape from my past."

Roy narrowed his eyes, but none of that conflicted with what he already knew.

"A month or two ago" continued Artemis "Dad... er, Sportsmaster approached me. He wanted me to feed him intel. I was going to tell him to shove it... but Batman told me to accept."

"Batman?" asked Wally. "Batman asked you to..."

"Yeah. He wanted me to be a fake mole."

"But Sportsmaster first claimed he had an inside source in September" said Roy.

"That's the thing" said Artemis. "There's another mole."

_Two moles?_ thought Wally. Great.

"What I said to you and the others back at Chidley, that was a script. Sportsmaster gave it to me to read so I'd finally have to turn my back on you guys once and for all. Burning bridges, so forth."

"And then you'd finally be a part of... whatever it is they're up to" said Wally.

"So I guess I am a mole" replied Artemis with a shrug. "Just for a different side."

"You aren't the only one around here" said Roy. "Rocket's working for them too."

"What?" gasped Artemis. "But that doesn't make any sense! Why would they keep her prisoner with the rest of you? Why wouldn't they tell me?"

"If she's a mole, she might be sticking with the rest of us in case we escaped. But what I know for sure is that she threw me into a high voltage barrier. Rocket is _not_ on our side."

Wally felt like his eyes should be spinning in circles or something. "So you're saying the new girl is evil. Great. Just great."

"But she couldn't have been who Sportsmaster was talking about in Taipei" continued Roy. "She wasn't on the Team then."

"You say there's _another_ another mole?" asked Wally. "Who?"

Artemis started to say something, but hesitated.

"What is it?" asked Roy.

"I'm not sure" the younger archer said "but... I think it might be M'gann."

"You don't seriously think that good old..." Wally started before the blonde cut him off.

"I don't know, but she was on the Team in September, she'd know how to take out the Bioship and she nearly got us killed in that simulation."

And she lied about her background too thought Wally, recalling what Roy had said on Halloween. Could it really be possible?

"Earlier, you said she was dead" said Roy, an icy tone to his voice.

"What part of 'reading a script' don't you understand? Da- er, Sportsmaster told me to tell you that, but I'm not sure that's true. At least I haven't seen anything proving it. The point is, if I don't find out for sure who the other mole really is, we'll never be able to stop their plan. I don't know any details yet... but it's bad."

"Cheshire said the same thing" said Roy. "She said there's some plot to bring down the League."

"When did you talk to my sister?" asked Artemis.

"When did you talk to her sister?" asked Wally at the exact same moment.

"It's complicated" said Roy, really, really not wanting to discuss how he'd escaped at the moment.

"But, Artemis" asked Wally. "If you are a double mole, why rescue me? Wouldn't that blow your cover?"

Artemis looked down, slightly ashamed. "I overheard my dad and one of his bosses talking. I don't know who, but they wanted you delivered to them so they could... uh... figure out how your speed works. With knives."

Wally had a professional aversion to revealing his secrets. And knives.

"I figured it might look like you'd broken out on your own, and... and I couldn't just leave you to die!"

"And that, Artemis, is why you will _never_ make it in the family business."

_Oh come on!_

Sportsmaster was at the other end of the hallway. Two masked goons with red Apokoliptan weapons flanked him.

"You've been a bad little girl, Artemis" said the blue-masked mercenary as he pulled out his flail and gave it a test swing.

"And you know me. Always the disciplinarian."

* * *

_And you thought I was lying to you when I said there would be answers...  
_

_Heck, as far as you know, I still am.  
_

_And I'm not anti-spitfire. It just had a serious roadblock in this story in particular. You know, with Artemis turning evil and so forth. But it's a good thing she was lying about that, or else someone would be in serious trouble...  
_

_Heh, heh, heh.  
_

_I do love writing Wally's POV, though. He's such a scatterbrain, as opposed to the very serious and mission-oriented characters like Robin or Red Arrow. Add in other characters like the semi-traumatized Rocket, a Batman who is trying to stay completely focused on the task at hand and Superboy's rather unique thoughts and there are really a lot of distinct 'voices' to write, which is both fun and challenging.  
_

_And, Nightingale, I can say with 100% I-know-I-said-never-to-trust-anything-I-say-but-believe-this-anyways certainty that there will be **NO** MommyCats in this story. None. At all. Seriously. She hasn't even appeared in the series!  
_

_Still, I do like the term "Double-cross spitfire." It's catchy.  
_

_No MommyCats. _

_None. Zip. Zero.  
_

_Not at all.  
_

_Zilch.  
_

_No.  
_


	40. Temporary Resolutions

**DISCLAIMER: **I had a convoluted metaphor explaining the fact that I don't own _Young Justice_, but I forgot it. Sorry.

Chapter 40: Temporary Resolutions

"Recognize: Batman 02. Martian Manhunter 07. Black Canary 13. Superboy B04. Miss Martian B05."

Conner closed his eyes and felt his hand squeeze M'gann's as the world disappeared in a bright orange flash. He'd never really gotten used to zeta tube travel. Somehow it reminded him of being trapped in his pod at Cadmus. Maybe it was the somewhat claustrophobic cylinder, or his molecules being broken up and squeezed into a stream of zeta particles barely thicker than a flashlight beam. Probably the latter.

**Mt. Justice  
**

**December 28, 07:31 EST**

The light receded and Conner blinked, his advanced kryptonian senses adjusting to their new surroundings. M'gann's hand suddenly tightened in his, almost like she was startled by something.

It was then that the super senses finally got around to doing what he paid them for and he noticed Superman, Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman standing in the middle of the lobby.

They didn't look happy. Awesome.

"We need to talk" said Superman.

M'gann had forced Conner to watch enough sitcoms for him to know that those were _never_ good words.

"Later, Superman" said Batman, starting to walk past the 'reception committee'. The Man of Steel raised one of his arms, blocking Batman's path.

"_Now._"

Conner didn't believe it, but Batman looked almost… startled at the force of Superman's reply. He supposed that even the Dark Knight had to get intimidated sometime. Eventually.

"Why were we not informed about your deployment to Quebec?" demanded Wonder Woman. She had an 'angry mother with stubborn teenager' tone about her, which was odd, because Conner was pretty sure she'd never been a mother.

"It wasn't necessary" said Batman.

"It _wasn't necessary_?" responded Superman. "Do you know how arrogant that sounds? Like you always know what's best for everyone?"

"I had plans in place in the event of complete failure" replied the Dark Knight "and I saw no reason to risk a security leak."

"Are you honestly saying you thought a member of the League would blow your cover?" Flash asked, annoyed.

"All communications have a risk for interception. I would have informed the League as soon as the operation concluded."

"Fine" said the speedster, shrugging. "But why didn't I get to come?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room gave him an odd look. The Martian Manhunter raised an eyebrow, the first facial movement he had made the entire time.

"Batman" said Aquaman, stepping forwards. "We have placed the responsibility of leader upon you. I understand that it requires you to keep secrets, but-"

"No. You don't." Batman's voice had completely drained of emotion, replaced with frozen steel. It was a side of the Dark Knight that very few people saw, and absolutely no one liked.

"I, too, have faced these challenges as well" replied Aquaman, somehow keeping his voice steady. "And I know that even the most well-meaning course of action can have unintended consequences."

"At the moment, I have seven people missing in action, presumably captured by a hostile force or worse."

"The entire Team," finished Black Canary "except for these two." She gestured towards Conner and M'gann, who looked like she wanted to hide her pale skeletal body behind her boyfriend in hopes that no one would see her. Probably because she did. Oddly enough, though, all the Leaguers she'd encountered so far had pretty much all shrugged her true form off like it was no big deal, if not outright ignored it. One saw a lot of strange things in their line of work.

Superman and Wonder Woman seemed stunned by the news. Flash and Aquaman seemed more subdued, as if they had already guessed why their proteges were not among the group. The Man of Steel opened his mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it.

"Who...?" whispered Flash.

"We don't know" said Batman. "What we do know is that they possess military-grade and alien weaponry, vast resources, multiple aircraft and Martian camouflage. It is entirely possible that they were behind Parasite's activities in Geneva, and may even have a source inside Belle Reve. I will allow a full analysis of my actions as soon as the Team is recovered and this threat neutralized, and not a moment before. Is that clear?"

Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Flash all looked at each other before nodding.

"What can we do to help?" asked Superman.

There might still be some reservations about the Team's existence and its usage, but there was one thing all League members could put aside their differences to agree on, and that was saving lives.

"J'onn, Canary, take Miss Martian and Superboy to the Cave's medical bay. Get them checked out."

"Hey!" protested Conner. "It's our team, so we're going to help get them back, no matter what you say."

Batman actually smiled. There was just something so... normal about Superboy and his complete and utter disregard for authority.

"Of course. Which is why we'll need you in top shape."

Conner shrugged and conceded the point as he, M'gann, her uncle and Canary left the room. That kryptonite really _had_ taken a lot out of him, not to mention the repeated beatings...

Besides, there was something he needed to talk to M'gann about.

* * *

_Wow. I'm super sorry, guys. This took me way WAY **WAY** longer than it should have. _

_IMPORTANT NOTE: I have made two minor edits to Chapters 38 and 39. In 38 I simply moved the scene from the Watchtower to the Cave, in 39, Roy makes reference to something I forgot. I apologize for the error._

_Now, excuses time:  
_

_Real-Life schedule crunch. Summer's over (at least for me) and so I went from having a lot of free time to none whatsoever. And I sort of got writer's block. Apparently it does happen to everyone, even me._

_Also, I had to rewrite this scene several times. The first two times it wasn't even Conner's POV: It was Batman's. There were three big problems with this: One, Superman kept coming out as a strawman (a character whose view disagrees with the authors and primarily exists to be completely wrong, thus proving the author's viewpoint is correct) who is completely wrong for challenging Batman's logic and supremacy. I do not like strawmen, because I feel that any side that resorts to using them weakens its own argument. It's also a staple of poorly written fanfiction, and often a sign of a Mary Sue as well. Most importantly, I think Superman does have a valid point here: Batman shouldn't have tried to keep such an operation secret from the rest of the League, even if he felt like he was doing it for the Team's benefit. And as much fun as it would be to have him end every argument with "You're wrong because I'm Batman," Young Justice goes for a more realistic, human approach to our favorite Dark Knight._

_Two: The lack of urgency. The conversation kept ending up being way too long and relaxed considering that lives were on the line, time is short and so forth._

_Finally, no one other than Batman and Superman's group did any talking. This was kind of odd since Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Conner and M'gann were also present. Except they were never mentioned in the first two drafts._

_This was probably the first time in this entire story that I've had to do serious rewriting of a chapter. Most of the other ones are practically first drafts (though I do reread them several times to ensure consistency and spelling). So I got a new and important writing experience. Yay!_

_Review Response Time:_

_Nightingale, I suspect the main reason for the absence of Catwoman is that the show is called Young Justice. Batman's a supporting character, and not only would giving him a relationship with someone serving no other purpose take time and focus away from the Team, AKA "the main characters" but it wouldn't really fit with the theme either.  
_

_To DestroyerDRT: I keep trying to estimate how many chapters are left, and the number keeps changing. But I do know what's going to happen, so trust me on that.  
_

_*More evil chuckling*  
_

_Also, yesterday I did some thinking, trying to come up with a solution to a plot hole I'd discovered. And then I came up with a long series of solutions of increasing brilliance, to the point where I honestly wanted to run off and begin laughing manically, because it was so evilly genius.  
_

_That's a really good feeling, and I hope you all get to experience it at least once in your lives.  
_

_I love my job.  
_


	41. Taking Stock

**DISCLAIMER: **FOR NARNIA (and denial of my hypothetical ownership of _Young Justice_)!**  
**

Chapter 41: Taking Stock

_This could be harder than I thought_ thought Rocket.

It was (roughly) twenty minutes later, and she didn't have any ideas as to how to escape two pairs of handcuffs and take out two guys with shotguns without either dying (again) or being tazed into submission. Rocket mentally added escape artistry and lockpicking to the list of things she'd need to learn if she ever got out of this, along with kung fu and ninja stealth.

_Focus, Raquel_. Rocket looked around, taking in the situation again.

The two goons were still sitting there, looking bored, but never-the-less attentive. If they got suspicious, they'd probably shock her again, and if she tried to attack them they'd likely shoot her. Even with her hands freed and without guns or shock collars weapons, they looked big enough that she could only really expect to take _one_ of them out with the element of surprise, let alone two.

She herself was sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair. Her arms were secured behind her back with a pair of handcuffs, the chain of which went through a set of slits in the back of the plastic. She wasn't going to be able to get up unless the cuffs were opened, the chain broke or the entire chair was ripped in half, and none of those seemed like very likely possibilities. Her feet were also secured by a pair of cuffs, with the chain behind the chair leg.

Finally, Aqualad was still unconscious, slumped over in another chair. He looked pretty beat up, and the inhibitor collar around his neck was presumably blocking both his strength and his control of water and electricity. Large super-strength cuffs engulfed his wrists in metal and kept them firmly secured behind his back.

Raquel scanned the room again. And again. It felt like this was a test of some sort. Robin probably could figure out how to escape easily. Most of the others probably would whip out some cool idea or hidden power or something. But Raquel had nothing. No combat-useful skills, no superpowers (outside of her belt), nothing.

Raquel could feel doubt seeping into her mind. Was she really hero material? Just because the stuff in the hospital and with Artemis killing her and all that had been (probably) a hallucination, it didn't change the fact that she'd been _damn_ useless the entire mission. Worse: she'd been a liability, and an agent for the bad guys without even knowing it.

_What did I contribute? Let's see... I caught half the Bioship after it broke. And then I dropped it and only lived thanks to Red Arrow. Then I got Zatanna captured, after I'd already poisoned her under mind control. Not good. I didn't help at all in escaping, I almost got the others killed when we ran into those guards, I ran away from some robot monkeys and I paid RA back for saving me by throwing him into a hundred-thousand-volt electric fence. While being mind-controlled. Again. And then I passed out, leaving Robin to face an evil psychic by himself._

_...  
_

_ I do really suck at this, don't I_.

* * *

Robin stopped tugging for a second and ran all the information through his head again. It came back the same.

There was no way out of here.

They'd removed all his equipment, he couldn't move his hands or fingers, his feet were cuffed together and attached to a pipe, there was a shock collar around his neck and he was gagged, so he couldn't even try to talk his way out. Not that Tala seemed like the listening type. She was still reading her book, a bored expression on her face, but he wasn't so stupid as to believe she wasn't keeping one eye on him.

He'd spent the last half an hour trying to see if he could pull the pipe his feetcuffs' chain was wrapped around off the wall. It was probably a water pipe of some sort, and it went straight from the floor to the ceiling, with barely an inch between it and the wall. A quick application of the scientific method confirmed that it was really stuck, and that he probably break the chain or his legs before he could wiggle the concrete the pipe was embedded in loose.

Realizing that any more pulling would simply tire him out, Robin stopped. He would have to wait until they tried to move him. That left an hour and a half to think and to try and piece everything together.

First up, of course, there was Artemis. Or 'Tigress', if she wanted to be called that so badly. That didn't make any sense either. Artemis shouldn't have been able to be the mole. They'd been smarter than that, and she'd proven her loyalty several times. All information they had on her suggested she hated her father. Why would she want to be just like him? To work_ for_ him? There was no way that her origin as a hero had been faked so she could infiltrate the Team. She'd been running around on her own as a vigilante crimefighter. And not a high-profile one, either. It would be impossible to predict Batman would offer her a job. And the Team had only been around for a month at that point, anyways. They'd run two ops: Cadmus and Santa Prisca. There was no way anyone could know about them and already have an infiltrator available. And then of course, there was what she'd said earlier... Half a dozen possible explanations had popped into his mind, but none of those were very comforting.

For that matter, he wasn't even sure if anyone else on the Team was still alive. Well, besides Artemis (probably) and Zatanna (technically). Roy'd been electrocuted pretty bad, Psimon had done something horrible to Rocket, he had no idea what had happened to Kaldur after they'd been separated, Wally was probably still frozen and he knew nothing about Conner. That left M'gann. Artemis had claimed she was dead, but Robin wasn't in the habit of believing everything he was told.

Regardless, the mission was totally and utterly FUBAR (to use the official military term). How had he let things get so far out of hand? How had he not realized that Psimon was manipulating him? How the hell was he going to explain all this to Batman?

Robin decided to spend a little time thinking about a cheerier topic, like who'd been trying to kill him all night.

Tala said that he was going to be taken to somewhere called "Gemini Base." Assuming that they were no longer at Cape Chidley (based on the difference in decor), that would mean at least 3 pretty large hideouts. That was a lot, even for a group of supervillains. Whoever his captors were, they'd apparently given orders to Parasite to try and destroy Europe, if not the entire planet. Sportsmaster, Cheshire, Psimon, and (according to Tala) Klarion the Witch Boy were all directly involved. They had surface-to-air missiles, automatic machine gun turrets, Dr. Ivo's MONQIs, some way to take out Zatanna long distance and the necessary tech to jam the Team's state-of-the-art communications and trace the locator chips in their radios. Then there was the alien Apokoliptan weaponry, which suggested a connection to the Intergang scheme Superboy had uncovered a while back. It was the same tech the Bialyans had been after, and Psimon's presence could confirm Queen Bee's hand in this as well. Cheshire meant the League of Shadows and Ra's al Ghul, and her teaming up with Sportsmaster again so soon after New Orleans couldn't be a coincidence: it was the same client. So that would include Ivo and the Brain into this whole mess, as well as whatever they'd been working on. But Ivo was in Belle Reve, unless Artemis had been sowing disinformation and merely claimed he'd been in New Orleans. But how would they benefit by claiming he'd escaped when he hadn't? And then in November, Klarion had split the planet into the adult and kids worlds with a bunch of other magic villains, including Wotan of the Injustice League, who'd been busted out of prison before he even got to Belle Reve...

Robin kept thinking, his brain assembling piece after piece. The more connections he made, the more everything fit together and the more sick he felt. _How deep does this all go?_ The resources, the personnel, the sheer number of unaligned villains working together... It dwarfed even the Injustice League in scale. Then again, now that he thought about it, the Brain had been testing Cobra Venom on animals in India. That super-super-steriod led back to the Cult of Kobra who'd made it on Santa Prisca with the help of, you guessed it, Sportsmaster, who had somehow obtained Project Cadmus tech. The same stuff was also used to enhance Ivy's plant monsters, so the Brain and Ivy had to have bought from the same supplier. And if the IL was a part of this, then that would mean that Count Vertigo's whole Ice Fortress scheme, including Vandal Savage and up to five ice villains who were supposedly "in their cells the entire time," just like Ivo...

An illegal super-soldier project, an international union of assassins, a rogue Middle Eastern state, at least two interdimensional beings, an alien civilization claiming to be the gods of slavery and despair, several deranged scientists and dozens of supervillains and mercenaries united into a single force that was infiltrating federal prisons, magically ripping reality in two, creating black holes and unleashing monsters on major cities just to show that they could...

This was big. Really big.

* * *

In the dark prison that was her mind, Zatanna spun around as a presence touched her mind, like a hand on her shoulder. She was certain that would be the last thought she would ever have before Tala erased her soul from the earth, if not all existence.

What she didn't expect to see was a girl, not much younger than herself, glowing light blue in the darkness.

"Is Z okay?" asked the girl, in a surprisingly calm tone. It was then that Zatanna recognized her, despite only having met her for a single night.

"Greta?"

* * *

_Well. This took entirely too long. A whole month between updates is too long in my opinion, but I haven't really had time for anything, this fic included. This will change. Hopefully.  
_

_At least this is a longer chapter. It was supposed to be pretty short, but, well, Robin's train of thought took a while.  
_

_And hey, at least new episodes of the actual show are coming out. I guess I should comment on them.  
_

_Satisfaction: Pretty good episode, great fight between Speedy and, well, everyone. Battle of the 1-armed people for the win! Though I have to admit I expected Luthor to have a failsafe code programmed into Speedy along the lines of "Red Sun". Bribing him with a robot arm seems a little... risky.  
_

_Darkest: Definitely dark. Hence the name. Things are (finally) escalating, stuff exploding, etc. I'm just glad they didn't call it "Worst Case Scenario." That would be weird.  
_

_I missed the latest one yesterday, and according to the Young Justice wiki, it's been bumped until January._

_What._

_Regardless, 5 bucks says the Reach will show up, probably as the "partner."  
_

_Hopefully I'll be able to update again soon!  
_

_-CLC  
_


	42. Unfortunate Implications

**DISCLAIMER**: I've heard you can buy _Young Justice_ on iTunes. I, however, have not done that, so I do not own _Young Justice_.

Chapter 42: Unfortunate Implications

Batman watched as J'onn, Canary, Superboy and Miss Martian exited the Cave's main room before turning to face the remaining four League members present.

"Flash," he began "I need you to go to Belle Reve ASAP and secure an interview with Mr. Freeze. Do not take no for an answer."

"Freeze? What for?" asked the speedster, cocking his head.

"According to Superboy and Miss Martian, the good doctor was at Cape Chidley last night."

"That's impossible" said Superman. "He's supposed to be in extreme isolation."

"Exactly" replied the Dark Knight. "You've all read the reports of my suspicions about Warden Strange. If he is allowing inmates to escape, now's our chance to catch him."

"You want to force Strange to admit Freeze isn't there" said Wonder Woman.

"But it's been a few hours" said Batman, facing Flash again. "You'll have to be quick."

"Well, you know me" said the red-suited man. "I'll be back in a flash!"

The other four managed to suppress groans as the speedster disappeared down the hall leading to the main exit.

"But if the warden of the government's primary supervillain prison really is letting prisoners escape..." began Superman.

"The scandal would be enormous" said Wonder Woman.

"It gets worse" said Batman.

"Strange only got his position because the previous warden resigned after the September Riot" said Aquaman. "That's too much of a coincidence."

"Even if Strange did arrange for the riot to take place, why would he risk his position by allowing prisoners to escape?" asked Superman.

"Dr. Ivo, both Icicles, Killer Frost, Captain Cold and Mr. Freeze two times now" said Batman, bringing up the data on the holoscreen. "These are all the prisoners we have reason to believe may have been released. That would give Strange connections to the Brain, Klarion the Witch Boy, Sportsmaster, Count Vertigo, Vandal Savage and our unknown enemies at Cape Chidley. Military grade weapons, multiple aircraft, a former Cadmus facility, Martian camouflage, kryptonite arrows and the same alien tech that Intergang obtained in October."

Batman paused, letting it all sink in.

Finally Wonder Woman said what was on all their minds.

"This is big"

* * *

M'gann winced as her uncle carefully inserted his intangible hand into her shoulder. Moving his fingers briefly, the elder Martian then removed them, bringing along with it his prize.

They were in the Cave's medical bay. M'gann was sitting on an examination table. J'onn, Conner and Black Canary were standing.

"What's that?" asked Conner, examining the tiny piece of silicon in the Manhunter's hand.

"Mr. Freeze said when we were fighting him that they put a chip in my shoulder to track me down" said M'gann.

"And we just brought that into the Cave?" asked Conner.

"The device has been inert since my first examination of M'gann" said the Manhunter. "The Cave's internal security measures should prevent a transmission."

"Sorry, but 'should prevent' just isn't enough for me" said Black Canary, snatching the chip and crushing it between her fingers.

The Manhunter looked like he was considering the Martian equivalent of rolling his eyes as he quickly collected all the pieces with his telekinesis and dropped them into a lead-lined container, identical to the one containing the last of the kryptonite he'd plucked from Superboy's wound. Both were sealed for later analysis. Placing the containers on the table, he returned his focus to his niece.

"On Mars there are several known chemicals which can inhibit one's ability to shapeshift" said J'onn. "However, most should where off in a few hours. M'gann, if you are able, could you try something simple, such as a pigment...?"

Before he could finish his sentence, M'gann had already begun, willing her flesh to change shape. Slowly, her limbs began to contract and her elongated head began to shrink.

"Patience, M'gann. Take it slowly. Too much strain could..."

"I... don't... care..." grunted M'gann, clearly in pain. It was possible to restructure one's internal skeleton without causing significant discomfort, but it required much more... patience than she was willing to invest. Her features continued to change. She could, she _would_ force her body to obey her!

"M'gann! Stop!" shouted Conner and Black Canary at the same time. Somehow, their voices got through to her and her concentration broke. J'onn grabbed her as she started to fall over, panting and gasping for breath.

"That is more than enough" said her uncle. "You are not fit to attempt even this much. Any more would risk permanent damage."

M'gann swallowed and nodded before burying her head in her uncle's chest."Uncle J'onn..."

"Everything is under control, now, M'gann" he said, patting her back.

She'd shrunk back down to her human-form size and her face was the same shape it had always been, or, at least the shape of Marie Logan, the actress she'd based it off of. But her skin was still chalky white, and her hair had yet to return. Conner thought that (save the hair), she looked a lot like her Halloween zombie bride costume.

"It's alright, M'gann" said Canary, putting her hand on the Martian girl's shoulder. "All that matters is that you're safe."

"No, no..." sobbed M'gann.

"M'gann" said Conner softly. She choked down another sob and looked up at him.

"M'gann, it doesn't matter to me or any of the others what you look like. It never did. We all love you because of who you are inside." He looked down uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his head. Man, did this feel like one of her sitcoms. "_I_ love you because of who you are."

The girl looked down at the floor and curled up in a ball, tucking her newly shortened legs by her chest.

"Could we... could we have a minute?" she asked softly. "Just Conner and I?"

Black Canary and the Martian Manhunter looked at each other. Canary shrugged.

"We will be back momentarily" said J'onn, picking up the container holding the remains of the tracker. Black Canary nodded and followed him out the door, which automatically sealed a second later.

"M'gann" said Conner, picking up her hand. "We _will_ find the others. You and I and the rest of the League. And they _will_ understand. You trust me, right?"

M'gann nodded.

"Then you should know that no matter what happens, I'll always love you."

"Conner... I..."

Conner's voice went cold. Romantic part over. Serious business time. "Queen Bee was blackmailing you. About... this." He gave a general wave.

M'gann started to try to say something, anything to deny it, but... she couldn't. It was the truth.

"Sportsmaster told me. Last night, she had you steal something from my room, right?"

M'gann nodded. Of everything she'd had to do, it was _that_ that she hoped would stay a secret forever. How could he trust her now?

"I was told to take four red... stickers," she admitted, "but to leave the box."

Conner wasn't sure if he should be angry or relieved or what. Sportsmaster had been telling the truth. M'gann had taken the shields. Who knows what else she'd done?

"We need to tell Batman about this, okay? All of it. Everything Bee had you do. It could be the key to finding the others."

M'gann looked like she was going to break down into tears again, but she nodded.

"What did you do with the... er, stickers?" he asked, almost as an afterthought. Those things really _had_ been useful...

"I... I still have them. In my room. What are they?"

Conner sighed and sat down next to her. "They're called shields. They enhance my kryptonian powers, give me flight, heat vision, all that. But I think they also make me angry...er. And it gets worse the more I use them."

"Wh-where did you get something like that?" blurted M'gann. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Conner signed. This could get awkward. "Well, let's just say you're not the only one with a few secrets that they need to come clean on. But first..."

He kissed her, and though it was an obvious attempt to put off telling his secret a few more seconds, she was totally okay with it.

* * *

_Thanks to everyone (and by that I mean literally everyone who reviewed) who offered me additional ways to watch the latest episode, but for right now, I'll just keep working on this story. I'll probably look into it in the next week or so.  
_

_In other news, my enthusiasm for this story has returned! This is the number-one ingredient in fast updates. I know this didn't feel like a fast update, but this is actually half of a longer chapter. I broke off the other part so I could get this done.  
_

_Also, I forgot to mention it, but we've broken 200 reviews! Yay!  
_

_ Ultimate Black Ace: Remember, this isn't the canon Light. This is MY Light. But I'll go ahead and admit that my Light does have a partner. But if the canon Light's partner is the same as mine, well... I'll be very impressed. And then I'll sue.  
_

_But yeah, Robin's just barely scratched the surface of the Light. Remember, he doesn't know about Freeze or Black Manta's appearances so far.  
_

_As for how Greta got here... SCREW LOGIC, I HAVE C-4!  
_

_Just kidding. I've got something that I think makes sense. What is it? Surely you know by now not to ask!  
_

_Speaking of which, babyblue3752 asked me how I came up with all these awesome ideas, and I got thinking: How _do_ I do it? And then, well, I had an idea. I'm considering adding a short piece of writing/story creating advice I've found helpful to the end of every new chapter. I'd probably either call it "How to Be an Awesome Writer" or "How to Be an Evil Mastermind." Kind of the same thing, really.  
_

_Should I do it? Review and tell me!  
_


	43. Spiritual Counseling

**DISCLAIMER**: Do I own _Young Justice_? Wouldn't you like to know. Heh, heh, heh.

Chapter 43: Spiritual Counseling

"_Incoming transmission_" chirped the computer as a large holographic screen appeared. Green Arrow's world-famous golden beard filled the image. Red Tornado's head was present in a corner, but nobody cared about that, because it was beardless.

"Arrow. Report." said Batman, very matter-of-factually. (It really was a very nice beard).

"The buildings are totaled. Definitely a controlled demolition. So far, no bodies, but it looks like there were a bunch of underground tunnels, just like at Cadmus D.C. It's going to take a while to sort it all out, even with the Canadians pitching in."

"What have you told them?" asked Aquaman.

"The League heard a rumor about activity on another op, sent in some recon to make sure the place was dormant, recon got attacked, backup arrived, things exploded."

"That's pretty much the truth" said Wonder Woman, raising an eyebrow at Batman. "I'm almost impressed." Batman resisted rolling his eyes at the sarcasm on the grounds that his mask would just conceal it.

"They know we've got missing personnel out here" continued Arrow "and I'm not sure how much longer it'll be until they start asking which Justice Leaguers they're looking for."

"When you have to, inform them that all missing League members have been located, and that it was merely communications error. The recon units have successfully been recovered. Apologize for wasting their time."

"Hey. Why do I have to apologize? It was your..."

Batman raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, anyways, the goons we caught are secured and they've started waking up" said Arrow, rapidly changing subject.

"Have they said anything?" asked Aquaman.

"They claim that they have no idea why we have taken them prisoner, nor do they recall a battle last night" said Red Tornado, stepping forward.

"A lie" said Wonder Woman. "It is easy enough to claim amnesia. To prove it is another matter."

"I don't know" said Green Arrow. "They've been separated the entire time we've had them, and yet they all came up with the exact same excuse. Different wording, too, so it doesn't sound rehearsed. Most of them seem more freaked out about it than anything else."

Batman thought for a second before bringing up a file on another holoscreen. "Right after Sportsmaster's plane took off, Superboy reported some sort of high-pitched sound. No one else heard it, but my cowl recorded it, and analysis shows that it in fact has a complicated and precise pattern. Definitely artificial."

"If they wanted to be sure they didn't leave any loose ends behind..." began Superman.

"...then the sound might have triggered a post-hypnotic suggestion" finished J'onn, entering the room alongside Black Canary.

"Exactly" said Batman, taking the pair of lead-lined containers from the Martian. Superman eyed the one marked 'Caution: Kryptonite' warily, but the lead was thick enough that he physically felt no different.

"J'onn, get back out there" ordered Batman. "Take Wonder Woman with you. You two should be able to tell if their memories really are being suppressed. If so, see if you can reverse it. I want answers. Now."

The Martian and Amazon nodded and moved towards the Zeta Tube. Wonder Woman checked her Lasso of Truth (TM) as they stepped into the teleporter.

"Canary. What are Miss Martian and Superboy's conditions?" the Dark Knight asked.

"They've been through a lot" said Canary. "M'gann is definitely traumatized. Thinks she's some kind of monster and we'll all hate her for it. But I think Conner's having issues too. He's just better at hiding it. Maybe if there was someone he could connect with? Like a _family member_ or something?"

Superman did his best to look like he wasn't trying to be nonchalant. And he was failing.

"Anyway," continued Canary, clearly annoyed at Superman "I'll need sessions with them right away, say, in an hour or so?"

"Negative" said Batman.

"Excuse me?" asked Canary, hands on her hips. "I _am_ the team therapist, am I not? And they need therapy. The sooner, the better."

"You are the Team's teacher and therapist" said Batman, making eye contact with her. "You are also a member of the Justice League. This investigation is already keeping four other Leaguers out of the way. We don't have the manpower to let anyone else stay on the sidelines until the incident it fully resolved."

"_The sidelines_?" exploded Canary. "Do you think making sure that we haven't just permanently scarred two teenagers in the prime of their lives..."

"Hey, isn't Miss Martian in her forties or something?" asked Green Arrow, still visible on the holoscreen. Canary glared at him.

"Arrow out."

The holoscreen closed.

"Both Miss Martian and Superboy are capable of dealing with this on their own for one more day" said Batman.

"You haven't even considered that they're _children_, have you?" shouted Canary. "They are children, and we're sending them to fight the worst people on the planet! What happens when one of them finally gets killed? Huh? What are we supposed to say then? That we're sorry?"

"Every member of the Team is fully aware of the risks..." began Batman, but Black Canary cut him off.

"You think that everyone can take the same stress you can, just by acting all dark and broody! But look at you! You never even got over it, did you?"

Batman seemed almost... stunned at the ferocity of the accusations. Superman and Aquaman were stunned to see that Batman was stunned, such a rare occasion as it was.

In the middle of this stunned silence of stundedness, Conner and M'gann walked in, arms around each other's shoulders, though no one seemed to notice them. They stopped suddenly, noticing the epic showdown taking place in front of them. One Wally would have paid money to be able to watch.

Batman's eyes narrowed into the continent-destroying Batglare.

"Don't bring my parents into this."

Superman and Aquaman were both trying to figure out who they should grab first if blows were exchanged when the Zeta Tube activated, providing a convenient distraction.

"Recognize: Dr. Fate 17, Captain Marvel 15."

Sure enough, the cheery man/boy that was Captain Marvel appeared, flying forwards into the room. Dr. Fate's face was hidden behind his golden helmet, but he looked as though he couldn't wait to be away from the other hero.

"Hey guys!" Marvel shouted. The assembled Leaguers were too struck by mood whiplash to say anything, so the Captain flew past them towards Conner and M'gann, who was still bald and sickly white.

"Oh my god, M'gann!" cried the new arrival, dropping to the ground. The Martian girl glanced down at the floor, tears starting to well in her eyes. This was the rejection she had been waiting for.

"You look awesome!" finished the Captain. "You've gotta turn into cool stuff like that more often!"

Everyone in the room stared at him, and it was clear they were all thinking the same thing.

_Why did we let this guy in?_

"Oh, sorry" he said, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "Am I interrupting something?"

Batman, Black Canary, Aquaman and Superman looked at other.

"No."

* * *

"Greta?" Zatanna asked, shocked. She hadn't seen the ghost girl since Halloween. By the looks of it, not much had changed, save an expanded vocabulary.

"How did you get here?" the magician asked. "Didn't you pass on?"

"Grey Man found Secret in afterlife, said Z needed Secret's help fighting bad lady" said Greta. "So Secret came!"

"Grey Man?" asked Zatanna."Who's that?"

"Secret doesn't know. But Grey Man was very nice. He led Secret straight to Z's soul! Bad lady doesn't know we're here." Greta paused and thought for a second. "So now Secret will help Z!" she shouted cheerfully, like that was all that needed to be done.

"Help… how?" asked Zatanna. She felt as if tears were welling up in her eyes, and the extremely cheery ghost girl wasn't helping. Nor was the fact that they weren't her eyes anymore. They were Tala's.

"I lost. If I try anything, she'll know I'm still here. She'll… she'll destroy me."

"Secret knows how Z feels. Secret tried a long time to stop Billy."

"You mean Harm?" asked Zatanna.

Man, _that_ guy had been off the deep end, that's for sure.

Greta nodded. "Secret couldn't fight Billy. Secret could only watch Billy hurt people. Secret thought she'd never stop Billy. But then Z and At appeared."

"You mean me and Artemis?" asked Zatanna. Were their names really that hard to pronounce?

"You fought Billy… Secret thought you could stop him. But Billy was too strong"

Zatanna could remember all right. Harm had been able to shrug off spells, arrows and fiery explosions like they were nothing. They'd barely been able to hold out before he'd overpowered both of them. That could have been the end, right there...

"And you helped us" she said.

"Secret did what she could, and At and Z stopped Billy. Now Billy will never hurt anyone again. See?"

_I do see _thought Zatanna_. Greta removed the gag that kept me from using magic. But just that was enough to beat Harm. Being a hero means trusting in others, and being ready to make the ultimate sacrifice._ _If I can just give Robin a chance… he'll do the rest. I can be sure of that._

"Z and Secret will help Ro fight bad lady, yes?" asked Secret.

"Yes, Greta. Z will help fight her."

* * *

_CAPTAIN MARVEL: ACE MOOD KILLER.  
_

_Okay, the pacing around this part isn't all that great. I really should have gotten back to Wally, Artemis and Roy by now. The reason I've put it off to go back over Batman and Zatanna again is so that I can finish up the "set up" for this stage. Speaking of which, it is now complete. All the pieces are in place. IT'S ACTION TIME!  
_

_Secret can say more words here because she's inside Zatanna's head, as opposed to being on a physical plane. Also because otherwise this would go all pokemon style: "Se! Secret? Secre secre!" "What's that, Greta? Timmy's fallen down a well?" "Seeecret!" That would be hilarious, but weird. I already have Captain Marvel to kill the serious. I don't need more people.  
_

_In other news, I got around to watching "Before the Dawn". Not a bad episode, though the physics got kind of weird at the end. (Increasing the door's density? The room not flooding instantly?). Most of my theories were confirmed, though. The episode also highlighted an issue I've had with Season 2: Too many characters. Specifically, Tim Drake. When I first saw him, I thought he was Jaime, and then I was confused for a minute before I figured out who he was. Why was this such a problem? Because he's been in THREE episodes. He had a big role in the season premier, a minor supporting role in "Alienated" and a nearly forgettable role in "Bloodlines." In short, the season has so many characters, I FORGOT WHO ROBIN WAS. That. Should. Not. Happen. That's why in this story, while I've got nine Team members running around, I try to keep cycling through them at a roughly equal pace. It leads to nice cliffhangers, too.  
_

_Finally, here's a quote from this chapter that unfortunately had to be deleted due to being too out-of-character, but was too good to pass up sharing:_

"Hey. Why do I have to apologize?" demanded Green Arrow. "It was your..."

"Because I'm Batman. Everyone knows Batman never apologizes."

Superman and Wonder Woman glared at him.

"Publicly" added the Dark Knight, with only a hint of amusement.

* * *

**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:**

Since I've got nothing better to do, I've decided that I will go ahead with my "How to Be an Awesome Writer/Evil Mastermind" segment. First, some points of order: None of this advice will necessarily work 100% of the time, but it's how I do things, and you guys seem to enjoy the results. Good writing can be done even without following these methods: That's your style. Also, I will mainly be speaking about writing, but some of this will apply to any 'art form,' or at least any form of storytelling.

STEP 1: Be Awesome

This may seem like straightforward and unhelpful advice, but hear me out. People like awesome things. People invest time (and possibly money) into things they like. Writing something awesome is the best way to earn and keep an audience. And money.

But what is awesome? Well, to be technical, 'awesome' is a word. But it's a word that in this context means 'something which is enjoyed'. You know what you like. And while it's possible that you are the only person in the world who likes that thing, those are some small chances. Especially in the age of the Internet and websites like this one, you should be able to find someone else who likes the subject as much as you. The best way to write something others will enjoy is to write what you do as well.

Of course, you can overdo this, writing about a blatant author avatar in the most obvious form of wish fulfillment possible. So you should also check out other things that are awesome written by other people. In this case, we've got this show, we've got other DC and superhero works of all types, and we've got all of these fanfics lying around. Reading is the best way to pick up new stuff and ideas. (Just don't steal... too much.)

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY: If you don't enjoy your story, no one else will.

More sections next time!


	44. Parental Issues

**DISCLAIMER: **Cartoon Network seems to have canceled _Young Justice_, so buying it now should be a snap! Until then, well, own it I do not.

Chapter 44: Parental Issues

"Ideas?" whispered Wally. Sportsmaster and his two henchmen began to advance.

Roy reached into his pocket, removing a small item he had stolen from Cheshire.

"Run!" he shouted, hurling the smoke bomb into the ground. A cloud of darkness materialized, instantly seperating the two groups.

"Fire!" cried Sportsmaster as the heroes turned to flee. Wally ducked out of the way as two hovering disks flew through the smoke, fortunately overshooting and returning to their launchers.

Roy made a jerking motion with his arm and suddenly dashed left into the next corridor. Wally and Artemis followed.

"I'm going to guess you're powerless right now?" he shouted to Wally, who was actually lagging behind the two archers.

"Y-yeah" panted Wally. He wasn't used to running a lot without the aid of the Speed Force, which made everything so much easier.

The heavy clomp of boots on concrete echoed behind them as they continued to run. Rounding another corner, Roy ran smack into a pair of shotgun-wielding guards.

Fortunately, his reaction time was better and he shoved the first guard's gun away while kicking him between the legs. Behind him, Artemis caught the other on the chin with a spin kick.

A quick jab to the neck finished off Roy's opponent and he grabbed the man's gun. The boots behind them were getting closer.

"What are you doing with tha-" began Wally. Roy cocked the shotgun and fired it around the corner. The concrete exploded, forcing Sportsmaster and his men to stop. It wouldn't keep them back for more than a few seconds, but that would have to do.

Roy dropped the shotgun and he, Wally and Artemis dashed down the hall.

* * *

Superman leaned against the wall of the cave, his arms crossed over his chest.

In the middle of the room was an impromptu magical circle. As soon as everything had calmed down again, Batman had explained his plan to Fate, and both Nabu and (supposedly) Zatara agreed.

Black Canary was standing in the corner, alternating between talking with Captain Marvel in a cheerful voice and glaring at Batman, who ignored her. Miss Martian and, er, Superboy were standing a ways off, watching the circle. Superboy still had his arm around the Martian girl. Superman wasn't sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, it wasn't any of his business, but on the other, there was a bit of... something rising up inside of him. It felt a bit like 'protective parent', but that couldn't be right... Besides, Superboy already had people taking care of him. He didn't want or need a really big example of what he couldn't do hanging around. Better for everyone if he just stayed away.

Right?

Nabu finished his circle and began to chant, hovering cross-legged two feet off the ground. Batman tapped a few keys on a virtual keyboard and a hologram of a globe appeared.

Batman's plan was elegantly simple. Fate would attempt to use magic to trace the Team's location. Of course, using magic to track down a single human or even a group of them anywhere on the planet would be near impossible. But tracking a magic human, one well known to the caster, on the other hand...

Fate ceased his chanting and raised his hand to the globe. This would be more difficult than tracing either the Injustice League's plant monsters or Klarion's spell at Roanoke, since Zatanna would not be actively broadcasting a signal. But she could be traced.

"I feel her presence..." began Fate. "Zatanna Zatara is alive." The rest of the people in the room sighed in relief. The fact that at least one of the missing Team members was still alive gave hope for the rest as well. Conner and M'gann looked at each other, and the superclone squeezed her hand tightly.

"However, she is clouded with chaos magic" continued the magician. "I cannot locate her precisely."

"Do we know anyone who can do that?" asked Superman. He'd never really liked magic all that much. It tended to sting. A lot.

"All of the world's strongest workers of chaos were captured at Roanoke Island" said Fate, still concentrating.

"And thus far they have stayed in prison" said Batman. The U.S. government took the security protocols on homicidal wizards very seriously. Wotan had only previously been able to escape following the Injustice League Incident because his convoy had been attacked. By who was still up in the air, and he was back in Belle Reve Extreme Containment.

"Of course, if Mr. Freeze has escaped, then is it not possible others have as well?" asked Aquaman.

"I'll have Flash check on that" said Batman.

"And then there's Klarion the Witch Boy" added Superboy. "He got away at Roanoke too."

"And he may have a connection to Warden Strange" said Aquaman.

"Uhhhhh...Ahhh!" cried Fate in frustration, breaking his concentration. "Zatanna's signal is too distorted. I can tell that she is in Western Europe. Nothing more."

"Can you sense Atlantian magic near her?" asked Aquaman. "If Aqualad has been captured as well..."

Batman nodded. "Do it."

Fate began to chant again. No one else present said anything. No one wanted to jinx it.

"I... sense it... Farther west..." Nabu's hand was on the globe, which had zoomed in to Western Europe. Slowly, it traveled south, through France and onto the Iberian Peninsula. Finally, it stopped, on the northwestern corner of Spain.

"That is as precise of a location as I can provide" said Fate.

"That's still a lot of area to cover" said Superman. "I can start doing flyovers if you want, see if I can pick anything up."

"No" said Batman. "The chance of you finding them too small compared to the chance of your being detected. Based on what this group has been capable of so far, I wouldn't put radar past them. The last thing we want is to let them know we're on their tail."

"I wouldn't be looking for the Team" said Superman. "I'd be looking for the planes they flew from Cape Chidley. Even if they have Martian camouflage, I should still be able to spot them from an altitude above radar. In the very least, we know those planes couldn't have landed at a commercial airport, right?"

"Fine" said Batman. He'd almost forgotten that Superman could be devious too, when he wanted. "Take Stewart and do it. But be careful."

"Always" said Superman, heading towards the Zeta Tube. "After all, we're a team, right?"

Batman grunted but said nothing.

Superman made eye contact with Superboy, feeling another twinge of... whatever it was, before turning and entering the Tube.

"Recognize Superman 01."

"We still need something else to go on" said Batman. "Simply doing a brute force search will take too long."

Conner and M'gann looked at each other.

"If there is some sort of base over there," asked Conner "Someone would have had to pay for it, right?"

"There could be a million possible sources for such income. Until we can identify who this hostile force is, we won't make any progress on that front."

"What about Queen Bee?" asked Conner.

"The dictator of Bialya? Why would you think she was involved?" asked Aquaman, curious.

"Well, uh, M'gann..." Conner started.

"I overheard something about her while I was captured!" blurted out M'gann.

"Really?" said Batman. "Can you give me exact words?"

"No," said M'gann, shaking her head. "Sorry. I was barely conscious at the time."

Conner's eyes moved from shock to irritation as he realized she was lying through her teeth, but he said nothing. They _would_ come clean, he insisted to himself. Just, not right now. When the Team was safe again.

"I suppose it would be a possibility" said Batman, turning towards the holoscreen.

"Maybe LexCorp, too?" suggested Conner. Several of the Leaguers looked at him.

"I mean, LexCorp's involved in nearly everything, isn't it? If there's really something this big going on, they could be a part of it."

"Well, those are as good of starting points as any" said Aquaman.

"Hey, what about those Intergang guys?" asked Captain Marvel, who had basically been ignoring the entire conversation. "The bad guys in Canada had those Apokoliptan weapon things, right? Those were the same things that Intergang was selling."

Batman typed rapidly, ordering the computer to do searches throughout the League and associated organization's databases. In only a few seconds, they got a ping back.

"An Interpol bot flagged a possible transfer of funds from LexCorp to Intergang three months ago" the Dark Knight said, reading off of the screen. "The money was traced to Spain, where it was used to purchase several pieces of property, including a small decommissioned Spanish army base outside of A Coruña, Spain. And guess where that is?"

Everyone in the room looked at the red area of the globe Dr. Fate had sensed Zatanna and Aqualad.

"Assemble the League" said Batman. "It's time we got our Team back."

* * *

_Okay, I lied. _This_ is the last chapter of the set-up. Now we get non-stop action. Well, we would, but...  
_

_**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**: As much as I hate to say this right as the action part begins, it is now November. That means that it is NaNoWriMo! (National Novel Writing Month, for those of you who don't know.) For this year, I have decided to work on a... special project.  
_

_Effective immediately, I will begin writing "Only Human," my Batman vs Lex Luthor fanfic. Every single person who has voted on my profile poll but one voted in favor of it, and the real life friends I've told about it (yes, I'm living proof that you can have friends and tell them about your fanfiction) wants to see this fight go down, and how do I say no to that?  
_

_The good news for all of you is that I'll be able to put chapters of it up here, and probably pretty frequently, too.  
_

_The bad news is that this will really cut into my ability to write Worst Case Scenario.  
_

_The neutral news is that I will only have to maintain an average of 1,666 words of "Only Human" per day. That's not too difficult, so I should still have time to work on this fic as well.  
_

_Either subscribe to my author alerts or check in my profile in the next few days for the first chapter. (I can't guarantee that each chapter will be under 1,666 words, but Chapter 1 should be up by tomorrow.)  
_

_I hope all of you will enjoy "Only Human" as much as you do this fic!  
_

_ alamodie: Yeah, Greta's kind of perky here, but she's made it to a (hopefully) better afterlife and no longer has to watch her older brother go around murdering people. I think that'd cheer up almost anyone.  
_

* * *

**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:**

(Yes, I'm still doing this):

Step 2: Get an Epic Idea

It's really, really, really hard to write a story if you don't have an idea. Seriously. It's difficult. So the best way to start writing is to get one of these things. It's also the hardest.

Since it's hard to tell you how to get an idea, I thought I'd show you, by telling the stories behind some of my other fanfic ideas. (Showing instead of telling is very important in writing.)

Let's start with Worst Case Scenario, since you all have to have read it by default in order to be reading this. I got this idea when I was trying to guess how the 1st season might end. The fact that we had all these secrets building up to explode... I knew it was going to come out awesome, but I thought I might as well try my hand at it. I started with kind of a vision about the Team being shot down and picked off one by one, and then I started thinking about how I would do that if I was on the Light. For example, Zatanna was hit with the nanotech poison because she is the most powerful, and so must be eliminated first so she doesn't screw everything up. More on thinking like villains in a later step.

I got the idea for "Only Human" while watching the old Justice League cartoon. Lex Luthor is one of the most reoccurring villains (since few others could keep up with the entire League) and Batman is, of course, a major character. So some episodes, most notably "Injustice for All" basically ended up being Batman vs. Luthor showdowns. And then I thought, why isn't this done more often? Most Superman/Batman crossovers had some level of this, but Superman was just too great of an asset. He drastically tilted the field in Batman's favor. Even if you throw in the Joker or something to try and even it out, you don't get the same "genius vs. genius" effect. So I took out Superman. And then I was like, well why not have no superpowers at all? It was really cool trying to adjust the DC universe to actual physics, and it works pretty well. I guess you guy will see that soon enough.

The best way to get ideas is to read/watch TV etc and then ask yourself "What would I do here? How could I make this better?"

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY: Ideas can come from anywhere. Just look for them.


	45. Unlocked

**DISCLAIMER:** I am vengeance. I am the night. I am not the owner of _Young Justice_!

Chapter 45: Unlocked

Robin was not having a good day. His situation hadn't changed, and he'd finally had to force himself to stop thinking about the possibility of the biggest supervillain team-up of all time. Tala was still reading her book, looking as bored as before, if not more so. If his internal clock was correct, they were going to try to move him again in less than half an hour.

'Try' being the operative word, of course.

A part of Robin was pretty sure that based on what he'd seen, these guys weren't going to give him any openings and his chance of escape was near zero. The rest of him told that part to shut up.

Tala put her book down and began to rub her forehead. Robin would have made a sarcastic remark about headaches, but he was still gagged.

Suddenly, Tala winced and then cried out in pain.

"What is- _Kcolnu!_" Tala's question was cut off by her own voice, shouting a very-magicky-sounding word.

Sure enough, the locks on his shackles clicked open for no apparent reason. Not that he was complaining.

"How? No!" stuttered Tala, a red aura forming around her. "I destroyed you! You're dead, you're dead, you're dead!"

Robin leapt to his feet and ripped off his gag, not sure what he should do. Tala didn't react to him, seemingly busy dealing with an invisible foe.

"Wait... Another? Very well, children" growled Tala, her aura growing stronger as her hands tightened into fists and pressing one to her forehead. "I'll destroy you bo-"

Her scream was interrupted by Robin's boot slamming into her temple.

"Sorry, Z" he whispered as the girl collapsed. "Couldn't take the chance. Don't worry. I'll get us out of here and back to the League. If Fate can't help you, no one can."

Zatanna didn't answer, but seeing as she was unconscious and possessed by an interdimensional being and all, Robin didn't blame her. Robin shrugged and removed the girl's jacket. He then collected the handcuffs that had kept his feet chained to the pipe and snapped them around her wrists before tying her feet together with the coat. Finally, he took the gag and tied it over her mouth. He couldn't risk her waking up evil and taking him out in a single word. He was sure Zatanna wouldn't mind, once she got cured.

_IF she gets cured_ said the same, annoying little part of him that had claimed he'd never escape.

_Shut up_ thought Robin, grabbing the remote for his inhibitor collar, which he tucked into his pocket. You never know when an electroshock device will come in handy...

With that out of the way, he checked Zatanna's pocket, finding a key that looked _just_ right for the door. Inserting it into the lock, he opened the door in a rapid motion, ready to ambush anyone waiting outside. Seeing that the coast was clear, he re-entered the room and carefully picked up Zatanna, adjusting her so she lay folded over his shoulder. Heavy, of course, but nothing he hadn't trained for.

He looked at the creepy totally-evil-magic book Tala had been reading. He briefly considering bringing it, but it's large leather binding looked too heavy, and he already had his hands full.

_Time to go_ he thought.

And with that, the Boy Wonder and his unconscious, demon-possessed not-girlfriend stepped into the hall.

* * *

_I'm baaaaack!_

_So, NaNoWriMo didn't go as great as I planned. I got 7000 words in my story and then started working on other projects, which are not yet ready for publication. So is the life of a writer.  
_

_Regardless, I should now be able to get some work done here. Whoop!_

_According to Leradomi, who I have no reason to doubt, the actual show has been delayed until January due to legal issues with some characters created by Dwayne McDuffie. According to Wikipedia, Dwayne McDuffie created Static, so that might be a problem. I, however, am technically stealing all of these characters anyways, and so this shouldn't slow me down in the least.  
_

_Man, who knew that unlimited creative freedom felt so good?_

_ : Si, no se siente bien. Pero, por qué hablas en Español? La historia es en Inglés._

* * *

_**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:**_

Step 3: Get Some Characters

One of the most important things in a story (if not _the_ most important) are the characters. Concepts intrigue people, plots and mysteries puzzle them, and action and suspense keeps the reader on the edge of the seat, but characters are what people feel. The reader empathizes with the characters, and (hopefully) starts to care about them. For many works of fiction, the characters are what truly entertain the audience. After all, we're all human (well, most of us), and humans love to interact with other humans. Characters are the ones who experience the story, and through them, so do we.

There are two general ways to go about creating a story. Create a plot and then some characters to go through it, or make up some characters and see what plot they create. (There are other, more specific ways, such as imagining a scene and building from there, but once again, I'll discuss that later.) I'll admit I tend to do the former, but I'm a lot more plot-oriented than many writers. For fanfiction, since you presumably have the characters already created, you'll probably want to do that one as well, though the inverse is not impossible, if, for example, you're writing about, say, American wizards in a Harry Potter fic and need to make Original Characters. For comic book fanfics especially, since characters like Batman have been around for almost 70 years, making new characters is much harder and less fun than re-interpreting old ones.

In the inverse, however, you'll want Fanfic OCs to be made by the first method. People read fanfics to read about the canon characters. If your OC doesn't have a purpose in the story, they should be cut. Good OCs develop out of the story, not the other way round. (Again, there are exceptions, but they are much more difficult.) The best example in this story would be Noah Kuttler/the Calculator. Obviously, he hasn't appeared in the actual series, and I pretty much made up his personality from scratch. However, he's not just there for a cameo. He serves an important purpose. (You probably don't know what that purpose is _just_ yet, but it's there...)

In general, you will use some combination of the two methods, usually in a back-and-forth. Characters personalities change the plot which requires changes in characters etc, etc, etc. Do whatever feels right to you.

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY: The plot has to happen to someone. Who?


	46. Unleashed

**DISCLAIMER**: Do you hear what I hear? If so, you probably aren't hearing the sound of me owning _Young Justice_.

Chapter 46: Unleashed

Noah Kuttler groaned internally.

_Come on, come on, just a little more._

He was so close, really. Just a few more thousandths of a second and they'd be within the accepted margin of error. Of course, you could always try to open an interspacial vortex between two buildings while outside of the safety regulations, but only if you were stupid and enjoyed being part of a wall.

On the desk beside him was a small, silver box that looked an awful lot like an old tape recorder. Funny how a super-advanced alien computer would look so... plain.

The box had a large segment removed from one side, with wires inserted to connect it to Kuttler's significantly more stylish but less powerful laptop, where he was attempting to make up for a large scorched dent in the other side of the box, courtesy of a poorly-aimed blast from one of the Apokoliptan weapons.

Sighing, Kuttler ran the diagnostic program again. He was so close, he could almost...

The diagnostic came back green. The program was good to go.

This so surprised Kuttler that he blinked a couple of times to make sure it was true. He then proceeded to punch the air, which was his personal way of telling the universe who's boss.

Rolling his neck, Kuttler reached for the radio sitting next to him when his computer beeped. An alert flashed on the screen.

The Motherbox was detecting something, but what...?

The screen told him and he suddenly wished it hadn't.

_Aw crap_.

Snatching up the radio, Kuttler fumbled with the buttons briefly before he hit the right one.

"Uh, guys? This is Kuttler. The tube is ready and you're going to want to get back here. ASAP!"

* * *

Rocket's frustrating continued failure to come up with a brilliant escape plan was interrupted by a groan from Kaldur, who seemed to be waking up.

One of the guards raised his shotgun, and the other one went for the remote that controlled the shock collars. Evidently, Aquaman's protege had them a little more concerned than little old Rocket.

She'd be jealous except that scaring men with guns was a category she felt okay coming in second in.

"Hey, fish boy" said Guard Number 2. "I don't want any more trouble, alright? Just sit there for a few more minutes until we can move you, got it?"

Kaldur glared at the man, but stayed silent. Obviously his first attempt at escape had not gone well.

"Rocket, are you alright?" he finally said, quietly.

"Hey! No talking!" said Guard Number 1.

"I'm fine" Rocket whispered quickly. A lie, but not a very big one. It's not like she could just say 'I poisoned your friend under mind control, electrocuted another one while still under, was murdered in a psychic hallucination and got electrocuted myself' and think that would improve the situation.

_I am going to be in so much trouble once we get out of here._

_IF we get out of here _she corrected herself_.  
_

Suddenly, there was a metallic _click_ and the door swung open. The two guards tried to swing around their weapons to confront the intruder, but lowered them once they saw who it was.

Black Manta strode into the room, urgency evident in his movements.

"We are leaving" he said to the guards. "Now."

Neither of them felt like arguing with an armored man with ray guns in his wrists who they couldn't make eye contact with who was telling them to get off guard duty.

Rocket noticed that Kaldur was glaring at Manta. She guessed that made sense, seeing as Manta was his biggest rogue, but there was something... weird about his eyes that she just couldn't place. Almost... sad?

Her thoughts on the matter were interrupted by Guard #1 putting his shotgun to her head as his partner unlocked the cuffs around her feet and hands, snapping the handcuffs back over her wrists as soon as they were clear of the chair. She tried to kick one of them, but it didn't do anything.

Manta put one of his wrist blasters to Kaldur's temple as they watched this unfold.

"This is not the only way, Kaldur'an" he said softly into Kaldur's ear, too quiet for either Rocket or the other men to hear. "You and I are not as different as it may seem." Kaldur turned to spit in Manta's face, but Manta cut him off with a slight zap from the inhibitor collar. "We'll talk more later," he continued, as the guards moved over to undo the Atlantean's restraints. "But for now it would be the best for us all if our relationship stayed a secret. After all, we wouldn't want your friend turning on you because of it, would we?"

Kaldur knew this was a bluff, a targeted attack designed to weaken his resolve.

He also knew that it was working. He hadn't known Raquel for more than a few days, but that just made it more likely she would reject him.

Another thought occurred to him. _What will Orin say when he finds out? Combined with my failures tonight... will he still keep me as his protege?_

Kaldur cleared his mind. No, he knew King Orin. The identity of his father would not be a concern. That was merely Manta attempting to throw him off his game.

However, another possibility had entered his mind.

_What will Batman say when he sees what has become of the Team under my leadership? Even if we all make it out alive and able, will the Team be able to stay together? Or will the League break it up, a failed experiment?_

Manta tilted his head in what was probably a smirk and gave Kaldur a little shove.

"Move on, Atlantean" he said, his voice cold again.

The group exited the room, first Kaldur and Rocket, then the two guards and finally Manta. He turned around and removed a metallic sphere from his belt.

Flicking a button, he tossed it into the empty room, closing the door and locking it. A moment later, a light blue flash was briefly visible as it filled the room.

"UV grenade" he said, answering the unspoken question. "Degrades all DNA from hairs, dead skin, etc beyond analysis." He gestured to Kaldur and Rocket. "As far as forensics can tell, they were never here."

The two men shrugged and gestured for the prisoners to keep moving.

A muffled explosion echoed down the hall.

"Was that...?" asked Guard #2.

"Sounded like gunfire" said #1.

"Stay here" said Manta, tossing #1 the remote to the shock collars. "Shock them if you have any trouble. I'll be right back."

And then he disappeared down the hall.

The two men both immediately flinched and took a step back, keeping their guns leveled at the backs of their prisoners' heads, as if they had both expected to be suddenly attacked as soon as Manta was out of range.

Which, you know, they kind of had been. You didn't get this far in the evil minion business in a world full of superheroes unless you learned to take precautions.

However, these two were in luck, as the aforementioned guns to heads, combined with the inhibitor collars and shackles, were enough to discourage either Rocket or Aqualad from taking offensive action at the first opportunity offered to them.

The four stood awkwardly in the middle of a concrete hall for about thirty seconds before they heard footsteps the next hall over.

Both of them instinctively turned their guns to face the location of the sound, then just as quickly remembered who they were guarding and swung them back towards the prisoners. They looked at each other before Guard #1 motioned to #2 that he would keep an eye on the prisoners. #2 nodded and moved to the corner. Ready for an ambush, he turned the corner.

"Whoa" he said.

"What is it?" #1 asked, keeping his eyes and gun trained on Kaldur.

"There's a girl here, in the middle of the hall. She's tied up. Unconscious, too. You know anything about that?"

#1 shook his head. "Call for backup" he said, subconsciously turning his head to face his partner, taking his eyes off the prisoners.

His second and final mistake.

His first mistake had been prioritizing Aqualad over Rocket as the greater security threat. While this ordinarily would be true, the inhibitor collar had striped the Atlantean of his strength and much of his durability, and the repeated electric shocks he had received over the course of the day in addition to head wounds and lingering burns from the land mine had left Kaldur relatively harmless, his head still fuzzy and his reflexes dulled. Not to mention the effects of Manta's attempts at psychological warfare that his brain was still dealing with alongside his own, genuine doubts.

However, Rocket was still in her normal physical condition (minus her belt, of course), and she'd had more time to deal with her own mental issues, having successfully shoved them into the 'Deal With Later' closet. While that was a significantly lower starting point, the fact was that she was still very determined and dangerous, as soon as they could no longer control her with fear.

Such as right now.

All Raquel needed was an opening, and she had promised herself she'd take the first one that wouldn't get her shot.

The end result of all of this was Rocket's leg lashing out and striking the side of Guard #1's shotgun, knocking it aside.

"Hiiiiyah!" she shouted for effect, figuring that if she got killed for this, at least she would have gone out looking awesome. However, luck was on her side and Guard #1 stumbled to the side, off balance. Before he could react, Kaldur slammed into him, sending both the shotgun and the remote to the collars clattering to the ground. Kaldur grinned, like a shark. His strength might have been weakened, but it was still there.

This was officially an actual fight.

* * *

Roy, Wally and Artemis crouched, motionless inside one of the countless empty rooms that filled the hall. Sportsmaster's men were checking each and every one, and so they'd have to move on pretty soon.

Roy noticed absentmindedly that Wally and Artemis were holding hands, and he was wondering if he'd missed another romantic development in the Team.

"Sir!" came a new voice from down the hall. Roy would have looked at its source except for the possibility of getting his head blown off.

"What is it?" replied another voice, unmistakably Sportsmaster's.

"We've found Cheshire. She's unconscious."

Sportsmaster chuckled. "Figured as much. She always was useless when it came to stuff like this. Get her to the tube room. The rest of you, do one last sweep and then link up there."

"Huh?" asked one of the other men. "Shouldn't we keep looking?"

"Negative. We've got bigger problems headed our way than a couple of punk kids. We're pulling out of Aguila. Now."

"Roger."

A few seconds later, and the sound of boots on concrete faded into the distance. Roy snuck a peak out into the hall.

It was empty.

"Punk kids?" Wally complained. "Who does he think he's talking about?"

Roy and Artemis both groaned.

"Give it a rest, West" said Artemis. "If something's bad enough to spook my dad, then it's pretty bad."

"It's the League" Roy realized. "They must have tracked down our location somehow. That's the only thing I can think of that would make a merc like Sportsmaster turn tail and run that quickly."

"Sweet" said Wally, with his characteristic thoughtfulness. "So do we just hang here and wait for backup or what?"

Both archers gave him funny looks.

"Look, I enjoy knocking heads slightly more than both of you" the speedster said. "But I happen to know that without either of your bows or my powers, we're kind of outmatched."

"It doesn't matter" said Roy. "Sportsmaster's planning a getaway, and the League might not get here fast enough to stop him. "

"Are you seriously suggesting that we go _chasing_ the guys who are trying to kill us?" Artemis asked, incredulous.

Roy turned and faced her with eyes narrowed and spoke in a cold, emotionless voice he normally reserved for enemies.

"Sportsmaster got away from me in Taipei and in New Orleans. Not this time. Now you can help, or you can stay here and hide."

The two glared at each other, malevolence rolling off them.

Wally broke the tie before anything serious could happen. The last thing he needed were his best friend and his sort-of-now-officially-girlfriend coming to blows. Again.

"How about we just follow them and see what their escape plan is" he said. "If we have to act, we will. If not, we'll let the League handle it. That sound like a plan?"

Artemis sighed and shrugged before following the two boys down the hall.

"Fine. But if this gets us killed, I'm blaming both of you."

* * *

_Okay, it's been 10 chapters. Time to get Rocket out of that chair. Then again, Kaldur's been out for a full 25, so...  
_

_Sorry this took so long. I was going for a big sweep of chapters as a Christmas present for you guys, then I had to go out of town... So, anyways, Happy New Year!  
_

_*Alien Invasion Begins*  
_

_Still, it's almost time for new episodes, is it not?  
_

_Also, the timing is very confusing here, since what Manta & co heard was from Chapter 44. After this is done and I've started work on the sequel, I'll come back through here and do a revision of the whole story, get some things in a slightly better order, fix typos, continuity errors, etc. So some of this chapter will probably end up in the last one. Oh well.  
_

_Also, since I started "Only Human" and did some reorganizing of my Potential Projects List, there is now a new poll on my profile. Be sure to vote on what non-WCS project you want to take up my time so I can't work on this!  
_

_...  
_

_That came out wrong.  
_

* * *

**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:**

STEP 4: Build a Plot

Characters are one of the two things that all stories must have. The other is plot. In any story, things have to happen. Even in oddball comedy like _Regular Show_, there still has to be something connecting all the bits together. The human brain isn't built to handle anything that is purely random.

You can start writing a story with either characters or a plot. I tend to do work with plot first, characters second, but either works, and both should grow out of the other. Character's actions and decisions should change how events happens, and the plot should effect characters. For example, in this story, how the Team deals with the various challenges the Light throws at them causes both sides to create new plans on the fly. At the same time, you'll start to see the psychological impact that all this torture and dramatic revelations and stuff are having on the Team's minds. Will any of them ever want to go back in the field again? You'll have to wait and see. This helps build suspense (which I will talk about later) and keep the characters seem like real people whose actions have meaning, not simple puppets who don't control their own lives. Unless that's what you're going for, then by all means, go ahead.

Fundamentally, the plot is composed of a series of events, usually shown in chronological order. The simplest form is A-B-C. However, the inclusion of interconnecting subplots can make establishing a specific order very complicated. Case in point, in this story, the Team hasn't been together since Chapter 3, let alone all the villains and the League members who get screentime. All of these side events run separately, but also cross over.

When making a plot, it's important to keep in mind two things: What you (the author) want to happen, and what the characters want to happen. Usually, these are two different things. The author wants a good story and the characters want whatever their individual goals are. If the characters got everything they wanted, they would be happy and there would be no conflict, and therefore no story. On the other hand, if you the author are trying to force a character to do something epic and it's just not in character and you can't make it work, then you need to drop it. OOCness will irritate a reader more than its usually worth. Unless you're like me and have a secret plot twist ready. ("She was actually a double agent? OMG! This makes so much more sense now!")

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY: Stuff is going to happen. Make it make sense. Please.


	47. United

**DISCLAIMER: **Mixxi was going to give me ownership of _Young Justice_, but revealed this to be a lie at the last moment. _MIIIIIXXIIIIIIII!  
_

Chapter 47: United

Superman hurtled through the air, just under the speed of sound. It wouldn't do to set off a sonic boom across half of Spain. Certainly not if the League wanted their team back intact.

Behind him, Green Lantern John Stewart had a fist pointed at the ground, his ring scanning the ground miles below.

Batman had contacted them as soon as he'd worked out his theory. The rest of the League was currently assembling at the zeta tube in Madrid and would move out in less than an hour. However, since Superman and Stewart were already there, they were ordered to recon the location from high altitude.

Superman reached the upwards part of his trajectory and flattened out, Lantern doing the same.

"Is this it?" said Superman. Though they were only a few feet apart, the high winds and thin air would have made it impossible to hear each other if not for the radio earpieces they both wore.

"Yeah" said Stewart."My ring says the base is about three miles... that way." He pointed straight down.

Superman nodded and began to stare intently at the location, activating his x-ray vision. It penetrated the cloud cover with ease, revealing a series of concrete buildings next to an old airstrip. No planes were visible, but he could see fresh tire tracks in the grass surrounding it. A few tarps covered various objects.

"Uh-oh" said Stewart, looking at a holographic display coming from his hand. "We just got pinged."

"By what?" Superman asked. There was no way human radar had picked up something as small as they were, not at this altitude.

"I don't know. My ring think's it's alien, but doesn't know the tech."

"Batman, this is Superman" said the Man of Steel into his radio. "They may know we're here. How far out are you?"

Seventy miles away, Batman consulted a holographic map, ignoring the greenish surroundings of the energy bubble that he, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Superboy and a fully green (but still weakened) Miss Martian were standing in, courtesy of Green Lantern Hal Jordan. Outside the bubble, the rest of the League was flying in a rough formation, trying to create a radar signature similar to a flock of birds. Not that that would fool anyone when they were flying at over two hundred miles an hour. They'd brought out the entire League, save the Flash, who was still at Belle Reve. Batman had ordered him to stay put. Catching Strange was just as important as recovering the Team.

"It'll take us at least fifteen more minutes to get there" said Batman. "Can you wait that long?"

Superman's super-hearing and Stewart's ring both detected a disturbance at the same time. The two heroes instinctively looked down, just in time to see a bunch of surface-to-air missiles racing up towards them.

"Nope."

* * *

Rocket lashed out for another kick, striking Guard #1 in the stomach, letting out much of her frustration of the past day or so. Aggressive violence was surprisingly therapeutic, she'd discovered. And it was good that she was getting it all out of her system, since she probably wasn't going to live through the next thirty seconds.

She could see it all as if it was in slow motion. Guard #1 was down, but his partner was going to be a problem. Kaldur was charging the man, but there was no way he was going to make it before Guard #2 shot him. And while regular Aqualad might be able to take a chest full of birdshot (Rocket would admit she wasn't_ exactly_ sure how hard his abs were) beat-up and inhibitor-collared Kaldur probably couldn't.

Suddenly a new figure appeared out of nowhere, grabbing onto Guard #2 from behind. The man tried to fight back, but he simply had no time before a pair of fingers jabbed him in the neck, knocking him out.

The unconscious man slid to the ground, revealing a weary-looking, gloveless, utilitybeltless but nevertheless satisfied looking Robin.

"Hey guys" he said, completely nonchalant.

Rocket would have waved, but she still had handcuffs on.

"Robin, have you seen any of the others?" asked Kaldur as the Boy Wonder looted the guards' pockets for keys.

"I've got Zatanna, but she's, well, it's a long story" replied Robin, unlocking the various restraints and inhibitor collars.

"How long?" asked Aqualad, flexing his now strengthened muscles as he and Rocket followed Robin around the corner. Zatanna was on the ground, tied up, gagged and unconscious.

Rocket gasped.

"What did you do to her?" she shouted at Robin, way louder than she probably should have.

"She's been possessed by a Lord of Chaos named Tala" replied Robin. "I think she's still in there, but we can't risk her turning on us. Once we get out of here, Dr. Fate should be able to help."

Rocket looked down at her boots. _Time to tell them, time to tell them..._

"It's all my fault" she said. "I'm the one who screwed up and got her captured. And I... I..." For a moment she choked up, tears starting to appear in her eyes.

"That was not your fault" said Aqualad, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We have all made mistakes, including a great many tonight." Robin considered saying the same thing, but he knew what else she was talking about.

Rocket took a deep breath and continued.

"Psimon's been controlling me" she said.

"Queen Bee's psychic?" Aqualad asked. Robin nodded. "He's here. So's Sportsmaster, Cheshire and who knows what else."

"He made me poison Zatanna before we even left Mt. Justice," continued Rocket "and then I... I..."

"It doesn't matter" said Robin, stepping between them. He figured that it was best for this to all come out in a_ looong_ session with Black Canary. "You think you're the only one who's head got messed with by him? The important thing is that we're together and we're safe for right now."

A red laser blast slammed into Aqualad, knocking him to the ground.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that" said Black Manta, emerging from the shadows.

* * *

Superman had been having a bad day, something which you would think would not be improved by large numbers of surface-to-air missiles heading straight towards him.

You'd be wrong. You see, missiles were something he could hit.

Or, you know, heat-vision into oblivion. Both were remarkably good stress relievers.

To his left, Stewart formed a ring construct resembling a massive scoop and slammed it into a cluster of missiles, ripping them in half with no time to detonate.

Superman shot straight downwards, setting off another group of missiles to his left with heat vision before twisting around and evading another bunch, which attempted to detonate and shower him with shrapnel, only to find their explosions outpaced by the Man of Steel's rapid descent. Not that the shrapnel would have hurt him anyways.

(Probably. Still, you never knew when someone was going to have kryptonite-laced missiles lying around or something.)

Superman was at ground level less than a second later. He didn't bother slowing down, instead slamming straight into one of the two sets of missile launchers. His impenetrable skin slicing through the metal and crunching it into something resembling a crushed soda can. Then he shook his head once to get his balance back, picked up the wreckage of the launcher he'd just destroyed and threw it at the other one.

The supervillain community didn't follow very many rules, but there were three almost universally agreed upon.

1) Stay as far away from Batman as possible.

2) Try to avoid getting the entire Justice League on your tail at the same time.

3) DO NOT make Superman mad. Ever.

A few seconds later, Stewart appeared, scanning the area with his ring to make sure there were no more surprises, and for a minute, all was still save the fluttering of one of the tarps that had covered the turrets prior to their activation.

"Where should we start?" Superman asked.

"I'm picking up life signs underneath the tarmac" replied the Lantern. "The base probably has an underground bunker in case of air raids."

"Can you find an entrance?" asked Superman.

"Got it. Over there." said Lantern, gesturing at a single-story building that seemed empty, based on a quick scan with x-ray vision.

Superman flew over to the nearest door and ripped it off its hinges.

"Coming?" he asked.

Stewart shrugged and started to enter.

The building exploded, a fireball engulfing them.

Everything went black.

* * *

Sportsmaster jogged into the command center, several of his men following close behind. One of them was lugging an unconscious Cheshire over his shoulder. The room was pretty packed. In addition to his normal troops, there was Mr. Freeze, who was leaning against the wall, alternating between checking his freeze ray, double-checking the patching he'd done to his suit and scowling at everyone else. Psimon sat on a desk, trying to not fall over. A large black coffin-shaped box sat on wheels nearby.

A thunder-like rumbling shook the room.

"Was that what I think it was?" Sportsmaster asked.

Kuttler, who was at a computer, nodded. "Building 1 is destroyed, but that's not going to slow 'em down for long."

"It doesn't have to be for long, it just has to slow them down" Sportsmaster replied. "Now what's our status?"

"We've got three men still out there: Tate, Bennett and Manta. They were supposed to be moving Rocket and Aqualad. Tala's missing too."

Sportsmaster swore and paced for a second. He didn't like Manta one bit, but he had strict orders to make sure that no one was left behind. It wouldn't do to give the Justice League a gold mine of potential intel, now would it?

"Alright. Kuttler, activate the tube and start sending people through. I'll be back in three minutes."

Kuttler sighed but nodded. The boom tube should be able to hold steady for that long, but a lot of things _should_ have been going right today that weren't.

He pressed the button and a large glowing sphere of golden light appeared in the center of the room, wind forming as the tube sucked in the air around it.

"Freeze, cover that door" shouted Sportsmaster as he grabbed an assault rifle. "The rest of you, start going through." The men nodded and the first two walked into the light, dragging the coffin with them.

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance?" said Psimon, looking paler than usual. Sportsmaster happened to know that the combination of electrocution and psycho-stimulants had royally screwed over the psychic's brain, but hey, if he was volunteering...

"We've still got brats running around, with capes about to knock our door down. See if you can... stall them."

Psimon nodded. "It would be my pleasure."

Cheshire groaned and started to sit up. Sportsmaster grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, dragging her along.

"Hu- Dad!" she shouted in an irritated tone, pulling her wrist out of his grasp.

"Come on, little girl" said Sportsmaster, cocking his weapon. "Job's not over _just_ yet."

* * *

_Hey guys. __Sorry that I haven't updated this in a while, but I was doing something for a contest on a different site (the visual novel maker Ace Attorney Online) with a deadline on January 31st, and I couldn't tell you guys about it because I'd have to update in order to do that, and I couldn't update without a full chapter. However, since the contest is over, that time pressure is gone and I can resume working on this story. Thank you all for understanding._

___What was that? January 31st was two weeks ago?  
_

___Well, I, uh... _

___Look! A talking waffle!  
_

_But seriously, to all of you who want to write stuff, get in a writing habit and STAY THERE. It's very difficult to get back in once you're out._

_In other news, we've broken 60,000 words in this fic and new episodes have returned!_ _Ordinarily, I would write my thoughts on each, but that just ended up with an author's notes longer than the chapter itself, and you guys don't pay me to talk about the show itself. You pay me to write something better than the show. (Not that the show's bad or anything, but I can always aim to be higher, right?)_

_So I'll just comment on the latest two: "War."  
_

_In a word, awesome.  
_

_I find it a bit odd that the Reach had to sacrifice two thirds of their fleet, mainly because it seems as though they could have simply shot the missiles instead of running their ships into them. But hey, what do I know?  
_

_As for today's one, well, Nightwing's figured out something the Reach don't know he knows, the most bizarre team-up of all time has succeeded and Manta really, really needs to upgrade his security._

_Black Manta: "You know, for some reason, I thought my base would be relatively safe from infiltrators WHILE IT WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN AND MOVING!"_

_Also, a deleted scene from "True Colors"_

_*Sportsmaster tries to kill Manta, is stopped by Deathstroke*_

_Vandal Savage: "I saw that coming."  
_

_Sportsmaster: "I saw you seeing that coming, coming."_

_*Jumps out a window into a waiting helicopter*  
_

___Savage: "How did we not hear that approaching?"_

___Deathstroke: *shrugs*_

_And wait a second, how the hell did the FDA already give approval to a drink known to contain ALIEN CHEMICALS which have not been independently tested for safety on humans? Does the Federal Government not exist in this universe? Do all the planet's xenophobes immediately trust aliens manipulating parts of the food supply just because G. Gordon Godfrey endorsed them? Is he really that popular?  
_

_Green Beetle: "This drink contains a dopamine derivative and an adrenaline suppressant. Over generations, humans will become addicted to this product, and lose all will to resist invasion."_

_Nightwing: "So it's like every other soft drink ever invented. Anything else?"_

_Ah, well. I don't have time to worry about this. I have my own Team to torture/mess with, and it's not like you guys come here to listen to me ramble on about the show.  
_

_Don't forget to go to my profile poll!_

* * *

**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:**

Step 5: Conflict

There is something that almost all plots possess. And that something is character conflict. Two or more characters have different motives which cannot (or at least appear not to) work together. For example, two guys are both in love with the same girl. While there is an obvious solution here (bigamy), for the most part only one of them will get her, if that many. Another example would be a police officer and a bank robber. The bank robber wants to steal money, and the police wants to prevent theft. These two motivations cannot coincide: one must win and one must lose. (Unless they both lose, but that's a topic for another time.)

Conflict is critical to a plot for one very simple reason: It is entertaining. Humans (and other sentient species) love to watch 2+ people go at it. Often there are parallels to our own lives: After all, who hasn't gotten into a fight or two with friends, family or co-workers? The real world is full of conflicts: political, economic, military. We can understand competition, and it drives us.

A story without conflict is usually a boring story, and as an author/writer/whatever, if your story is boring, it's dead. Conflict comes in many different forms, including external (hero vs. bad guys) internal (hero vs. self) or immaterial (hero vs. nature/society/the universe), or a combination of all three. Just make sure it's interesting, and there's a lot of it.

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY:

Conflict drives the plot. Have a lot of it.


	48. Undermined

**DISCLAIMER**: It appears that Young Justice actually _has_ been canceled. If I owned it, this would not be the case. Therefore, I can't own it, can I?

Chapter 48: Undermined

Robin dashed to the left, a laser blast singing his cape. Weaving back and forth, he evaded several more shots before reaching Black Manta. His kick deflected off the mercenary's armor. Robin tried to use his momentum to flip over Manta, but the man caught his ankle and tossed him into Rocket, knocking them both to the ground.

"Rather confident, aren't you, child?" Manta asked.

Robin kicked off the ground with his feet, flipping over into a one-hand handstand and cartwheeling away. Manta fired another laser blast, which missed. Rocket suppressed a squeak as the blast struck the ground near her feet.

_Get it together Raquel!_ she thought as Robin kicked off a wall and somersaulted over Manta, only to be batted aside by the man's powered armor. _You've faced down worse guys then this. And so what if you had a piece of alien technology helping you out? It's not the belt that made you a hero. It's what you did with it. _

Manta slammed Robin into the wall and raised his left fist, which crackled with electricity from a wrist-mounted taser.

_All you've got to do is give it your all and don't hold back._

With this enlightening epiphany, Rocket examined the situation, thought for a moment, and threw her shoe at Manta's head.

"Hey! Ugly!"

The sneaker bounced off without visible effect, but Manta did turn his head briefly, allowing Robin to slam both his feet into Manta's 'eyes'. His head snapped back and he lost his grip on Robin's collar. Somehow, the Boy Wonder still had the energy to do another leap, spinning over Manta's head and snapping an inhibitor collar on his neck.

Manta had barely been able to turn around to face Robin and Rocket when Robin pushed the button in his hand, sending electricity pouring out of the collar and into the mercenary.

"I got that from a friend of yours" said Robin. "How's it feel?"

Black Manta stood up straight and ripped the collar off with one hand. It continued to spark in his gauntlet.

"Just fine" said the mercenary. "The suit's Faraday shielded. This won't hurt me a bit."

A wide variety of profanities raced through Rocket's mind, but Robin didn't seemed phased. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"You may be shock-proof" he said, giving one of his child-like chuckles. "But are you Aqualad-proof?"

Black Manta had a pretty quick mind. Like many supervillains who tangled with super-powered heroes on a regular basis, he had to use his brain to make up for their brawn. But even with his sharp intellect, it still took him half a second to realize the meaning of this sentence and to start to turn around.

And by then it was much, much too late to stop the fist of one Kaldur'ahm fist from slamming into his face.

* * *

Red Arrow peeked around another corner before signaling that it was clear with a hand signal.

"Are you going to do that every time we turn a corner?" Artemis asked.

"Well, we could always try dying" the elder archer replied with venom in his voice. "I much prefer this, though, don't you?"

Wally had forgotten exactly how bitter Roy could get when he was frustrated and bowless.

"Come on, guys" the speedster said, stepping into the empty hall. "Surely we're almost…"

A wave of nausea struck him, then disappeared as quickly as it came. Wally put his hand on the wall to steady himself.

"Hey, did you guys feel…?"

His sentence was cut off by a kick from Roy, which nearly took his head off.

"What the-" Wally shouted, forgetting they were in enemy territory for the umpteenth time. Roy lashed out with a series of blows that Wally barely dodged with the remnants of his still-faded super-speed.

"What's gotten into you?" shouted Artemis, grabbing Roy's arms and trying to restrain him.

"Oh, it's quite simple" said Red Arrow, slipping out of her grip and slamming his foot into her solar plexus. Wally could see that his irises had turned light purple.

"Have you ever heard of the game… Psimon says?"

* * *

Light returned to the darkness and it took Superman's eyes a second to readjust.

Captain Marvel tossed away the concrete slab he'd picked up and tossed it away. "Are you okay, Superman?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine" muttered Superman, silently embarrassed as he noticed the remainder of the League was looking at him.

Superboy, Miss Martian Black Canary and Wolf hopped out of the Supercycle a few feet away. Superboy looked as though he was trying to avoid eye contact with his 'father' which suited Superman just fine. Neither of them needed any more distractions at the moment.

Batman approached.

"It was a trap" said Superman.

"Of course it was" said Green Arrow, who was standing nearby. "This whole thing has been nothing but one trap after another." Superboy and Miss Martian both looked at the ground. They knew that better than most.

"Well, I for one am tired of it" said Black Canary.

"A trap's only any good if we walk into it" said Batman. "And that can only happen if we take the path. Are there any life signs directly below us?"

Both Green Lanterns scanned with their rings and shook their heads.

"Then it's time we made our own way in."

"That's twelve feet of reinforced concrete" Green Arrow pointed out.

"And?" was the Dark Knight's reply.

The Lanterns formed drill constructs. Aquaman prepared to call the water he sensed in pipes below upwards, to rip every crack in half. Superman, Superboy and Captain Marvel themselves for a standard leap-punch. Captain Atom began to charge an energy blast. Martian Manhunter felt the ground with his telekinesis, looking for weak points to pull.

All of which made them feel rather silly when Dr. Fate took two steps forward, waved his hand and said "Tlem." A golden ankh symbol appeared on the ground which then simply dissolved, revealing a hallway below.

"Showoff" muttered Green Arrow.

Batman pulled two batarangs from his belt. "J'onn, scout ahead." The elder Martian nodded and phased into the ground. "We're going to go in fast, hit them hard and our Team back. Got it?" The assembled Leaguers nodded in a moment that would have been really awesome if it hadn't been interrupted by two dozen chittering green MONQIs with jetpacks pouring out of the hole.

Superboy was the only one who managed to speak in the half a second before the robots reached them.

"I hate monkeys."

* * *

Black Manta slammed against the wall and was still.

"Way to go Kaldur!" cheered Rocket, flashing a nervous smile.

"Nice" added Robin, giving the Atlantean a punch on the shoulder.

"It was nothing" said Kaldur, giving a sad glance to the armored man on the ground.

_Father..._

"We need to get out of here" said Robin, interrupting any further contemplation. Aqualad liberated his waterbearers from Manta's belt, deciding that he would put aside such thoughts until later.

"Can you carry Zatanna?" he asked Rocket.

Rocket thought for a second before nodding. Carefully, she scooped up the other girl, who was still unconscious and bound.

_I'm not losing you this time_ she thought.

"What's this?" came the arrogant voice of a man who has the upper hand and knows it.

The three teenagers slowly turned around to find an all-too-familiar blue-clad figure standing down the hall, assault rifle in hand.

"Sportsmaster."

"You know, you little punks have become more trouble than you're worth. It think it's time we finally just..."

Kaldur didn't let him finish that sentence, instead bursting the water pipe above the mercenary's head and ordering the water to strike him with all of its fury. The rifle skidded away.

"And that's why you don't mess with the-" began Robin, only to stop as a tiny black ball flew in from behind and struck the ground near their feet, engulfing the area in thick black smoke. The Boy Wonder tried to counter the attack from behind, but he was knocked aside by a kick to the head.

Cheshire emerged from the smoke in a full sprint, the still-bound Zatanna over her shoulder.

"Why do I always have to be bait?" grumbled Sportsmaster, leaping to his feet and checking the unconscious Manta.

"Dunno" replied Cheshire, throwing a sai at Aqualad, who deflected it with a force field of water. "Maybe it's all a hunk of meat like you's good for?"

"Whatever, little girl" Sportsmaster replied, firing a pistol at the shield to keep Aqualad from dropping it. "Just end this, okay?"

"If you say so" muttered Cheshire, slashing Zatanna's bonds. "Wakey, wakey!" the assassin teased, shaking the girl.

Zatanna groaned but quickly rose to her feet. Her eyes glowed red and energy flowed through her hair, making it dance like octopus tentacles. A wicked grin crossed her face.

Rocket coughed, still trying to recover from the jab to the solar plexus she'd gotten from Cheshire. Until this point, she wasn't quite sure she'd believed Robin's story about Zatanna being the victim of demonic possession. All doubts were gone now. This girl was not Zatanna.

"We've gotta move!" shouted Robin, uncomfortably aware of exactly how easily Tala could take them all out.

"Agreed" said Aqualad, flicking his wrists and feeling the water rush to obey his command.

"Lla retaw..." began Tala, only to be cut off as Aqualad's water shield shattered, sending the liquid barreling into the three villains.

Robin pulled Rocket to her feet, and by the time Tala looked up, they had disappeared into the maze of hallways.

"We must pursue them" she said.

"Negative" said Sportsmaster, pulling a groaning Manta to his feet. "Orders from the top. We are pulling out. Now."

"You dare to give orders to me, a Lord of Chaos?" demanded Tala, stomping her foot. Her intimidating presence was only slightly impacted by the full foot of height Sportsmaster had over her.

"You know what, fine" he said, pointing down one of the halls. "The entire Justice League, including one Dr. Fate is that way. Go do whatever you want. I wonder how long you'll last?"

Tala had visibly winced at the mention of Fate. "Very well" she sighed. "Perhaps a retreat is in order."

"That's what I thought, princess" said Sportsmaster, gesturing to the two unconscious guards on the ground. "Now, do either of you feel like some heavy lifting?"

* * *

_Mixxi: SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!_

_(You know I'm just kidding, right?)_

_SORRY SORRY SORRY that this took so long! I meant for this chapter to be out weeks ago, but I've been incapacitated for the past two weeks._

_And it looks like the show actually IS has been canceled. Well, that's just great._

_I was reading some commentary about why, and I ended up with an idea for another story, separate from this one. I'll need to do a little more work to make sure first... And I should probably finish this up. I never thought it would take me as long as Season 2 to finish this. Almost done, by the way. I've only got so many more tricks left.  
_

_But tell me, with the series ending, should I continue on with my planned set of sequels for this fic or not? I'm perfectly willing to do it, but I fear the possibility of the time it will take eroding away at the potential fanbase._

_Also, I've got... mixed feelings about "Endgame" but "Summit" was just made of win. I don't really understand the need to end the series with costume switches, but whatever. And OMG! Vandal Savage is working with Darkseid! What a shocking cliff hang- oh, wait, we've known that since halfway through Season 1.  
_

_(I can't be the only one who was expecting Darkseid to simply chuck Savage into a fire pit and steal back War World, can I?)_

* * *

**How To Be An Awesome Author/Evil Mastermind**

Step 6: Heroes

All stories have characters, of course. And almost all characters have **main** characters. These are the guys the narration follows, and the people through whom we experience the world. The fancy literary term for such a character is "protagonist" but colloquial term is hero. However, this is misleading. "Hero" is generally meant as someone who goes above and beyond what is necessary to help others or remain morally upright against pressure to the contrary. A "good guy" in other words. However, modern literature being what it is, there are books where the protagonist is far from being a role model, either as an anti-hero or a full-on villain. As tempting as it is to make a super-villainous protagonist, it's critical to remember that the protagonist is what your audience deals with. If the protagonist is a vile, despicable unlikable person, your audience won't care about them. In fact, they'll start rooting for the guys trying to kill him. The same can be said, however, for the opposite extreme. A protagonist who is too perfect will bore, or worse, annoy the reader. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. Readers are (mostly) humans, and all humans have flaws. Having characters make mistakes lets us empathize with them. _Young Justice_'s version of Superman is actually a great example of this. Superman's a pretty upstanding dude, always doing the right thing and stuff. But when forced to deal with Superboy, he kinda freaks out. He tries to push Conner away and ignore him, making a lot of excuses along the way. And, eventually, he realizes his mistake, admits it and does something to fix it. That's how a character arc works. The character grows and learns over time, just like (most) real people. If you don't have some errors, there's no place to make improvement. That's a static character, which can work some of the time, but gets boring after a while.

(For the record, the other major thing a good three-dimensional character needs besides flaws is motivations, but that's a lesson for another time.)

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY:

Make your heroes likable or not, but always relatable.


	49. Undeterred

**DISCLAIMER:** Come! Read! The power of _Young Justice _(which I do not own) compels you!

Chapter 49: Undeterred

Roy lunged at Wally, who lept out of the way.

"Artemis, I think he's under some sort of mind control!" the speedster shouted.

"Ya think?" replied Artemis, ducking out of the way of a kick.

Wally backed away slowly down the hall they'd come from while Artemis moved down the one they'd been moving down. Both were putting space between themselves and Red Arrow, who couldn't go after both of them at once.

"Such clever children" said Red Arrow in a very un-Red-Arrow-like tone. "Much too clever for your own good."

Red Arrow winced and put his hand to his forehead. "What happened?" he muttered.

Before Wally could realize what had happened, Artemis charged forwards and lashed out at Roy, who barely dodged.

"Gah... Traitor!" he shouted.

"Roy, no!" cried out Wally. "She's under..."

Suddenly, Wally found himself wanting to punch Roy. He didn't really know why, but he did anyways, catching Red Arrow on the cheek.

"He's controlling Wally!" shouted Artemis.

"Who's... What... What the hell is going on?" demanded Roy, evading another blow from Wally before darting behind him and grabbing the speedster's arms.

"There's something controlling us and trying to get us to kill each other" replied Artemis. "But I think it can only get one of us at a time!"

Roy blinked and began twisting Wally's arms.

"Artemis! Help!" he cried. "It's not me anymore! It's Roy! He's the one under control!"

"No" grunted Red Arrow. "He's the one! If you help him he'll kill us both!"

Artemis's eyes darted back and forth.

"Talk about a rock and a hard place" she muttered.

* * *

The League had reacted quickly, all things considered. Batman had cleaved several MONQIs in half with a pair of batarangs before they had made it out of the hole and the rest of the League responded with various projectiles, energy attacks and rocks.

However, after that first barrage the surviving MONQIs had slipped through and grabbed onto anything they could reach.

Superboy ripped a MONQI grabbing his leg in half and then slammed another one between his palms. A third one grabbed onto his hair but was ripped off and torn in half by M'gann's now-resurgent telekinesis. They shared a quick smile, which was soon interrupted by (you guessed it) robot monkies.

One of the Lanterns was able to set a barrier over the hole, only to drop it after being struck from behind by several laser blasts, courtesy of the attacking robots.

Green Arrow rolled away from a squad of MONQIs and smashed one with his bow. "Uh... Fate?" he asked, hoping a Lord of Order would have another 'snap-my-fingers-and-solve-all-our-problems' trick up his shiny sleeves.

Unfortunately, the only Lord of Order available was under a pile of MONQIs, letting loose a torrent of curses not heard by humans in millennia.

"Arrow!" shouted Superman. "Stay down!"

The archer did as he was told as the Man of Steel unleashed a blast of heat vision, cutting a dozen MONQIs in half.

"Uh, thanks?" said Green Arrow, eying the new line in the concrete not four feet from his head.

"No problem!" replied Superman, just as a MONQI grabbed his head and began blasting his face with what was probably a kryptonite-radiation-frequency laser from its eyes. It sure stung like one.

To make things even worse, a second swarm of the infernal robots began streaming out of the destroyed building behind them. The Supercycle opened fire on the swarm but barely made a dent before a pair of MONQIs had grabbed its control rig and begun steering it in circles, chittering the entire time.

A group of the new arrivals piled onto Captain Marvel, burying him in glowing green.

"SHAZAM!" he shouted. The MONQIs absorbed the magic lightning that appeared not a second later and exploded. Marvel only paused for a second to shrug off the scorched remains before moving to help Dr. Fate.

Hal Jordan was dodging some jetpack MONQIs _(why did they have to have jetpacks?_) when his ring began beeping at him. He was about ready to tell the thing to shut up when he looked up and noticed a Hellfire missile heading towards the main group.

"You've gotta be kidding me" muttered the Green Lantern as he formed a giant tennis racket construct and swung it. The missile exploded harmlessly against the construct but the distraction allowed Jordan to be tackled from behind by (what a surprise!) more robot monkeys.

Seconds later, another missile streaked towards the League and was only stopped by a force field from Stewart.

"We've got a drone overhead!" he shouted.

"On it!" cried Captain Atom, rocketing straight upwards, ignoring the MONQI still hanging onto his shoulder.

"Batman!" said the Martian Manhunter over a telepathic link. "There's a-"

"I know" replied Batman, using a batarang like a knife to slash a MONQI in half.

"No! Not the robots! There's another psychic down here! I can sense them!"

"Roger that" said Batman. "All Leaguers, be advised" he said into his radio. "The MONQIs are a diversion! I'm taking a team in! Wrap up and follow ASAP! Arrow, Canary, Superboy, Miss Martian, you're with me! Tornado, clear us a path!"

The android did not so much blink in acknowledgement (not that it could, anyways) as it summoned a vortex that ripped through the MONQIs standing between Batman and the hole in the concrete.

"A path has been cleared" Tornado said before moving to support Hawkman and Hawkwoman, who were close to being overrun.

In perfect sync, Batman and Green Arrow sent an explosive batarang and arrow (respectively) flying into the hole, tearing apart any more mechanical resistors. Black Canary lept over the sparking remains and fell ten feet into a corridor, which she quickly rinsed with her patented Canary Cry. Seconds later, Green Arrow, Batman and Superboy had joined her. The last two MONQIs in sight charged, only to levitate briefly before slamming into a wall. M'gann smiled slightly as she floated down.

For a second it was quiet, save for the sounds of battle above.

Batman pulled out two more batarangs as he began to run down the hall.

It was time to end this.

* * *

Robin peeked out from around a corner. The hall was empty.

"I think we're clear" he said. "They're not following us."

He slide down the wall into a sitting position, joining Kaldur and Rocket, who were still panting.

It was silent for a minute, save for their breathing.

"Well, that could have gone better" said Robin.

The other two looked at him with one of those _Dude, really?_ looks. Robin sighed.

"I know, I know. Batman's going to kill us. Fate, too, seeing as his daughter is all 'Lord of Chaos'-y."

Kaldur glanced down at the floor. "I have indeed failed as leader."

"Hey! Don't blame yourself" said Robin. "We've all made mistakes tonight. Yesterday. Whatever."

Kaldur sighed but didn't say anything else.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Rocket.

"I guess we need to see if we can get out of here and get help" said Robin.

A series of grunts echoed from down the hall.

"What's that?" asked Rocket.

"I don't know" said Robin. "But I think I'm gonna go find out."

"Are you sure that is wise?" asked Kaldur.

"Well," said Robin "It sounds like fighting, and that means someone doesn't like whoever's in charge around her. 'Sides, trouble's been following us all night. Just for once I'd like to be the one moving towards it."

Rocket and Kaldur looked at each other and shrugged.

* * *

_Man, who knew that unlimited creative freedom felt so good?_

_I saw a re-run of "Complications" on Saturday, and the commercial claimed that DC Nation would have new episodes of Young Justice and GL:TAS would be on next time. This means that they canceled both series and didn't even bother to change the commercials!_

_CARTOOON NETWOOOOOORRKKK!_

_Oh yeah, I got one of my real life friends who'd watched the first half of Season 1 to re-watch the series online. She made it through Season 1 in a day and a half._

_Never underestimate the power of cartoons._

* * *

_**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:**_

Step 7: Villains

Of course, once you have a protagonist you want to support, ideally one with likable qualities, flaws and complex motivations (more on all that later) you're going to need a antagonist (or better yet, antagonist**s**) to try and stop them. Unlike a protagonist, an antagonist is not strictly necessary. A story can be about a protagonist vs. nature or society or fate or his/her own inner demons. However, having a character go head-to-head with another character, ideally one who is a physical, mental or superpowered match for the hero, if not more powerful. Remember, if the protagonist is just going to steamroll over the antagonist, it's not going to be much of a story. Keep in mind that antagonists don't necessarily have to be "bad guys". A police officer trying to stop your phantom thief from, well, thieving, is just as much of an antagonist as a crazy guy trying to blow up the planet. However, just as it is often a good idea to make your protagonist likable, making your antagonists easy to dislike will make things much easier for the audience. Now, you may not want that. Certain stories benefit from grey areas and making the reader think about who they should be supporting. But as a general rule, protagonists are good guys and antagonists are bad guys. That's just how it is.

It's always a good idea to make your villain more than a flat character who kicks puppies and blows up planets for the LOLz. Villains are people too and they have their own personalities, quirks and motivations. _Worst Case Scenario_ isn't a good example of this at the moment, but in the future, expect to see the Light developed beyond "those evil guys we're fighting". A well-developed villain is especially important since they are often the "active" ones who kick the story off. Most often, the formula of "the villain has an evil plan we're got to stop it" will work fine, but only if your villain is somewhat interesting. And unless you're playing it for laughs, they should never go down to easily. Nothing breaks suspense like an invincible hero.

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY: Your hero wants to fight someone. Who are they?


	50. Unstoppable

**DISCLAIMER: **I own _Young Justice_. And you can believe me because it's April 1st, International Tell the Truth Day. It is still April 1st, isn't it?**  
**

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE** **OF IMPORTANCE**: I discovered that part of Chapter 49 somehow got deleted between when I wrote it and when it got put up. Please re-read the previous chapter before you read this one or you will be sorely confused. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Chapter 50: Unstoppable

"Artemis!" Wally cried out. "Help!"

Artemis walked over to the two other boys, cracked her knuckles and jabbed two fingers into Red Arrow's neck. He collapsed.

"Thanks" said Wally, rubbing his neck.

Artemis punched him in the jaw.

"Ow! What..."

Wally noticed the light purple glow to her eyes.

"Aw crap" he muttered, jumping out of the way of a kick.

"Artemis! Fight it! Somehow. I don't know, just fight it already!"

Artemis stumbled forwards and shook her head like she had a migraine.

"Good!" said Wally. "Good! Keep fighting it! If anyone can break it it's you. You're the toughest girl I know! And that's why I... why I..."

_For the love of... Just freaking say it already, West!_

"Why I love you." There. He'd said it. Out loud. In front of witnesses. In front of _the_ witness.

Artemis stumbled forwards a bit and looked up. Her eyes were their normal pale grey.

"You mean it?" she asked, sounding like a little girl waiting for reassurance.

Wally wanted more than anything in the world to say yes.

Instead he found his body charging forwards, arms swinging. Artemis barely jumped out of the way.

"Now, now" Wally felt his mouth say, though the words were not his own. "As romantic as this is, it's finally time that one of you suffered some... permanent damage."

* * *

Wonder Woman ripped the last MONQI off of her shoulder and crushed it in her hand.

Scattered bits of green metal and wiring coated the entire tarmac. Not far away were the smoking remains of an MQ-9 Reaper drone.

Captain Marvel bent over to try and catch his breath.

"Woo! I hope we don't have to do that again for a while" he said. The rest of the Leaguers shared his sentiment.

Superman put a hand to his earpiece. "Batman, this is Superman. The area is secure. We're moving in."

"Acknowledged" said Batman. "Be advised, we've found bullet holes and fired shells but no sign of the Team or any additional hostiles. J'onn has detected something and we're checking it out. Move into the base and continue the sweep. Over."

"Roger that" replied Superman. "We're on our way."

* * *

Robin was expecting something weird when he peeked around the corner and he was, of course, correct, but seeing Roy groaning on the ground and a subsonic Wally trying to grab Artemis was a tiny bit weirder than what he'd had in mind.

What made it even weirder was when Wally turned around and lashed out at Roy.

"Stop it!" Artemis shouted, tackling him.

"Hey!" shouted Robin, running into the open. All of his detective's instincts were blaring. Something was very wrong here. Kaldur and Rocket were right behind him.

Wally suddenly exhaled and blinked. "Rob!" he shouted. "Don't hurt her! She's not the-"

Kaldur suddenly cried out in pain before hurling a punch at Rocket.

"Whoa!" she shrieked.

Roy's leg shot out, catching Kaldur off balance and knocking him to the ground. The archer slowly got to his feet.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on!" Raquel shouted.

"It's Psimon!" Wally replied. "He's screwing with our heads, trying to get us to take each other down!"

"Everyone! Back up!" shouted Roy. "Stay out of each other's reach!'

Kaldur got to his feet as everyone spread out, waiting to see who would be next.

Robin felt a very familiar pretense in his mind. Before he could react, his right hand had formed a fist and lashed out at Wally, only to be intercepted by his left.

"Oh... no... you... don't!" he muttered, pulling his arm back, no doubt looking like the craziest man alive. But he'd be _damned_ if he let a half-rate villain like Psimon get him that easily.

_I heard that_ came the psychic's voice in his mind. _And so what if you can resist me? Your friends aren't so... fortunate_.

The presence faded as Rocket screamed.

"No!" she shouted, clutching her forehead and slamming into a wall. "I won't let you control me again! I won't! I won't!" Despite her protests, she straightened up and threw a punch at Aqualad, which he easily deflected.

_Don't you understand?_ asked Psimon as his power left her mind, leaving her gasping for breath. _What you want has nothing to do with it._

"Guys!" Robin shouted. "We've got to shield our minds! Think of one single object, anything, and don't stop thinking about it! That thing is everything to you! Every inch of your mind needs to focus on that one, single, thing. Nothing else matters! Got it?"

Everyone gave some sort of nod and began focusing.

"Oh, and, uh, try to pick something you wouldn't mind a supervillain seeing" Robin added.

Raquel took a deep breath and began picturing a daisy. Her mom had some in her window box. Man, she was going to have to tell Mom about all of... No, no, the daisies. The daisies. That was all that mattered.

Robin to a glance around and saw that no one was making clumsy attempts to kill each other. So far, so good.

Feeling a psychic probe on the edge of his consciousness, he brought up an image of an _Eptesicus fuscus_, the big brown bat. It seemed appropriate. They had a fair colony in the cave, and he'd studied pictures of them enough that he could see every single hair on its body.

As soon as that image was set, he began humming. Softly at first, but then louder and louder. Wally heard him and after a second of trying to place the tune, he joined in. Soon, so did Raquel, then Artemis, and then a reluctant Roy, and finally Kaldur began a clumsy attempt to follow along.

Psimon swept from one mind to another, but he couldn't find any holes, and the humming was getting to him.

Robin chuckled internally._ Psimon's such a pussy, Psimon's such a pussy_ he mentally sang to the tune. The psychic's anger and frustration came off in waves.

_Enough!_ he growled. _I do not have time to deal with mere children._

_'Cause we're beatin' ya so bad?_ thought Wally.

Psimon grunted. _And just what I need. A Mar- _He stopped mid-word._ Well, no time to chat. I suppose what I've done so far will have to do._

The entire group winced as one last blast of psychic energy surged through the link connecting them. Then, their thoughts were truly their own again.

"That... sucked" muttered Wally. The rest couldn't help but agree.

"What was it that we hummed?" asked Kaldur.

"_Frère Jacques_" Robin replied. "An old French lullaby. It was either that or the theme song to_ The Flaming C_."

"Thanks for the help" said Artemis. "I assume _Batman_ taught you that?"

"Yeah" Robin replied. "Psychic resistance 101. Now, if you've got anything you want to say to keep us from beating you up for betraying the Team, I'd say it now."

"She's not the mole" interrupted Wally. "Sportsmaster tried to get her to defect, and Batman told her to go undercover."

"Batman..." Robin muttered.

"I assume he didn't tell you?" Roy asked. Robin shook his head.

_Could that be why she...?_

"And we are certain of this?" Kaldur asked.

"Look, I don't know about you, but she risked her life to save me from being a KFcicle" said Wally. "And she got in a fight with her own dad to boot." He walked over and put his arm around Artemis's shoulder. "She's no traitor. She's one of us."

Roy sighed. "I kind of have to agree with him" said the archer. "Outside of the mind control, she hasn't tried to kill us. Yet."

"Thanks for the support" Artemis said sarcastically.

"Now about our other traitor" Roy said, turning and pointing at Rocket.

"Hey, Roy" said Robin. "You know that guy that was just messing with our heads and stealing our bodies? Yeah, he was around earlier. I know. I was there."

"Um... Sorry about electrocuting you?" Rocket said sheepishly.

Roy grumbled but said nothing.

"So, now that we're all on the same page," said Artemis "What's our next move?"

They stopped to think for a moment. In the silence, the sound of running footsteps echoed through the corridor.

"Did you hear that?" asked Wally.

"Sounds like running" Robin said. "Shall we?"

"I am not so certain that continuing to engage our enemies would be a wise decision" Kaldur said. "I alone am armed."

"Yeah, and I'm real low on juice" Wally added.

"I say we get out of here before something else crazy shows up" Artemis agreed.

"Come on, guys" said Robin. "We can do it. Just a peek, okay? All this running and fighting and we still have no idea what these guys are up to. Not much of a recon mission if we can't even get that much."

"Robin has a point" said Roy. "Sportsmaster and his men are retreating. Now's the time to press our advantage."

"We have an advantage?" Artemis asked, sarcastically.

"Please?" Robin whispered to Kaldur. "This could be our last chance to rescue Z."

Aqualad sighed. "Very well. Robin, scout ahead. Do not engage any enemies you may encounter. Everyone else will stay behind me. Try to remain quiet. Move out."

* * *

"Clear" Batman reported. Black Canary moved up to check the next corridor for enemies. She, Batman and Green Arrow had been sweeping the base like a well-oiled machine for the past five minutes, but they'd encountered nothing besides the swarm of MONQIs up top.

Superboy was, oddly enough, not happy to be away from the MONQIs. As much as he hated them (more than any other type of monkey, in fact), fights let him toss his problems out the window so to speak, at least for a little while. Get his mind off things. Like how screwed up everything had gotten in the past day.

But now that there was no immediate threat, his adrenaline rush had worn off and he found himself uncontrollably... thinking. About things he really, really didn't want to think about.

Oddly enough, didn't have to do with the rest of the Team and the fact that they'd been missing for hours. They were all pretty tough, and even the new girl (Rocker? Racket? Whatever her name was) had been superheroing longer than he had. They'd be fine. He was sure.

What made him anxious wasn't the fact that he'd fallen out of a plane, or that he'd been hit with a kryptonite arrow, or that he'd been beat down on by Sportsmaster. It wasn't even that he'd nearly punched M'gann's head off. It was something much worse.

M'gann had been feeding Queen Bee information. She'd sabotaged the Team. She'd stolen his shields, which could have made the difference between saving the rest of the Team back at Cape Chidley and... whatever it was that had actually happened. She'd betrayed all of them.

She'd betrayed him.

And for what? So they wouldn't know that she looked like a different species? They'd almost died because she didn't like her appearance _that she could change at any time?_

He understood, sort of. The idea of wanting to hide from who you were, from what you'd come from. After all, that was why he'd told no one else about his little 'chat' with Daddy #2 Lex Luthor. And why he wouldn't stop loving her. Probably couldn't, even if he tried.

But the others? The League? Batman? Would they see a scared little girl in desperate need of love and support, or would they see an alien rookie who'd sold them out for selfish reasons?

Would they keep her on the Team, even if she came clean today? Or was the damage already done?

Conner hadn't thought that much about it, but he made the decision right there. If M'gann was taken off the Team, he'd quit too. After all, his shield habit was almost as dangerous. And he would_ not_ leave M'gann. Being alone like that would probably crush her, and he would not let that happen.

But they couldn't stay quiet about it, either. That would only tear the Team apart from the inside out. Either they would be accepted for their mistakes, or they not be.

_We **will** tell them_ he said over his private mental link with M'gann.

_Right_ she replied, her face, finally green again, concealing all signs of emotion. _Of course._

Of course.

* * *

Sportsmaster dashed into the command center, Cheshire, Tala, and the recently revived Manta, Tate and Bennett behind him. The room was nearly empty: Only Kuttler and Freeze remained. Well, them and a giant glowing sphere hovering in the corner.

"That was _four_ minutes" the techie said, checking his watch.

"Shove it, Kuttler" Sportsmaster replied. "Is everyone through?"

"Everyone who isn't here. Psimon already left. It seems he encountered more resistance than he'd expected and then detected a Martian getting within range, so he figured he'd cut his losses and book it. And we better do the same. The tech's not designed to keep a portal open this long. We've got maybe a minute before it collapses."

"Right." Sportsmaster said. "Leaving time."

"Indeed" said Tala. "We should have vacated this hideous excuse for a building long ago."

Sportsmaster rolled his eyes as they turned towards the portal, Tate, Bennett and Manta stepping through. He was getting very tired of Little Miss "I'm a Powerful Lord of Chaos Do What I Say."

Laughter echoed through the room. It was high-pitched, mischievous-sounding and very, very familiar.

"Robin" said Mr. Freeze, his eyes narrowing.

"Yo!" shouted the Boy Wonder himself as he swung into the room, gripping the top of the door frame in his bare hands. His foot connected with Sportsmaster's hockey-masked face, knocking him back into Tala as Robin backflipped away.

Cheshire reached for her sai, only to realize it was no longer there. (_Damn that archer and his sexy, sexy mask!_)

"Old fashioned way it is" she muttered, charging.

Mr. Freeze tried to lift his freeze gun to put the Boy Wonder on ice, but his reflexes were too slow. Robin flipped across the room and connected a flying kick with Freeze's dome, slamming him into a concrete wall. The weapon misfired, coating the doorway in ice as Robin kicked it out of Freeze's hands.

In the hall, Aqualad had just reached the door when he had to flatten against a wall to avoid being flash-frozen.

"Robin, what have you done?" he said to himself as he drew his waterbearers and began to concentrate.

Okay, so Robin was _technically_ supposed to only scout and then report back before engaging. And normally he would've. But seriously, these guys had a portal and had been about to go through it. There was no time for any other options. Not if they were going to save Zatanna. Besides, he'd been doing pretty well that night, even without his utility belt.

"Mr. Freeze?" he teased in his sing-songy 'tick off villains' voice. "Really? I thought you had higher standards, Victor."

Freeze growled and lunged at Robin. This was roughly equivalent to an elephant trying to step on a mosquito and the villain missed by a full two feet. Off balance, he tumbled into the portal.

_One down, four to..._

Robin's thought was interrupted by Cheshire, who flew through the air like a pinwheel and forced him to dodge a very annoying set of blows.

Tala raised her hand and began to speak. "Nibor lliw..."

Then she got hit by a flying _table lamp_ of all things, courtesy of a rapidly flipping Boy Wonder.

Noah Kuttler had backed as far away from the fight as he could and checked his watch. The portal shuddered and began to contract.

"We've got fifteen seconds!" he shouted, jumping in. "Move it or lose it!"

"Jade!" Sportsmaster shouted. "Take Tala and go! I'm right behind you!"

"I will not allow-" Tala began, only to be interrupted by Cheshire landing beside her and grabbing her in a bridal carry.

"Don't hurry, Crusher" the assassin said with a wink as she dove into the shrinking yellow sphere.

Robin tried to intercept, but was knocked aside by Sportsmaster.

"Not today, kid" he said, drawing a pistol and firing.

Robin evaded the first two bullets with more acrobatics and was saved from having to dodge the rest of the clip by the ice coating the door, which exploded, knocking Sportsmaster back and showering him with fragments. The pistol clattered to the ground.

Aqualad allowed himself a brief smile as he charged into the room. Ice was still water after all, though it took considerably more effort to get it to shake off the bonds that held it solid.

Sportsmaster figured he'd really had enough of rearguard action the past two days and so backed up a bit before diving into the portal, throwing a hunting knife at Robin to keep him back. It didn't work, of course.

"Rob!" Wally shouted as the rest of the Team ran into the room. "What's gotten into you?"

"No time!" Robin replied. "I've got to save Zatanna!"

There was only one option left, and it was suicidal. Completely and utterly suicidal.

Robin went for it anyways, because that was the kind of guy he was.

"Bruce is so going to kill me for this" he muttered before lunging at the glowing sphere.

"No!" Wally cried, dashing forwards. Evidently some of his speed had returned, as he was able to reach Robin in a matter of milliseconds and grab onto his friend's cape.

Too late. Robin's momentum carried him forwards into the portal, followed a second later by the speedster.

"Wally!" Artemis screamed.

Before anyone else could reach it, the boom tube contracted and vanished, taking with it both boys.

Artemis, Kaldur, Rocket and Roy just stood there for a minute in an empty room, staring at one particularly empty corner.

They were still there when the Martian Manhunter phased in through the ceiling, and when Batman, Conner, M'gann and the others arrived.

Still staring at the same, empty, corner.

"Guys!" M'gann said. "You're okay!"

It took the Martian girl a second to realize what was wrong.

"Where's Robin, Wally and Zatanna?" she asked.

The four Team members turned and looked at her, and then back at the corner.

Batman almost instantly determined what was wrong. That was the reason they called him the World's Greatest Detective. The Dark Knight took a deep breath. After years of training to keep his emotions hidden and in check, he was able to reduce everything he was feeling at the moment to a single clenched fist.

A radio crackled

"Batman, this is Superman. We've secured the west end of the facility. It's empty. What's the status on your end?"

Batman clenched his other fist briefly as he put his finger to his ear.

"All clear here, and we've recovered most of the remainder of Team. Only Robin, Kid Flash and Zatanna are still unaccounted for. We do not believe them to still be on site."

"Roger. We'll continue to sweep anyways."

"Understood. Batman out."

"Come on," Black Canary said. "It's time to go home."

One by one the remaining Team members turned and left.

Until, finally, only Batman remained, eyes locked on the corner.

For one tiny moment, a speck of water appeared in his eye, and then it was gone.

* * *

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

_This took longer than I wanted it to, but I think it was worth it. (It better be: I think this is the longest individual chapter we've had so far.) __I would have had it out a week ago, but I went on a four-day Teen Titans binge instead. Thank you the Internet._

_Yeah, we're finally at the end of this arc, BUT WE'RE NOT DONE YET! _

_ROUND 4... BEGIN!_

_(THIS IS THE LAST ONE, I SWEAR!)_

_Oh, in case you were wondering, here's what everyone was picturing during the psychic battle.  
_

_As stated before, Robin was thinking of a bat._

_Rocket was thinking of a daisy._

___Aqualad was thinking about an oceanic trench near Poseidonis._

_Kid Flash was thinking about Artemis._

_Artemis was thinking about the kitchen sink in her apartment._

_And Red Arrow was thinking about the gesture he really wanted to give Psimon at the moment._

_There ya go._

_Wait for it... Wait for it..._

_*balloons and confetti pop out of the ceiling as music starts playing*_

_FIFTIETH CHAPTER PARTY!_

_*happy dance*_

_And, in other news, in a little over two weeks, this fic will be ONE YEAR OLD! Woo!_

_Granted that's both a good thing and a bad thing because it's not finished yet and you guys have been sitting around, waiting for me to get it done. If I can keep from being super lazy/distracted, I think I can have this done by the end of May. Then it's on to the ten or so sequels.  
_

_I'm just kidding. I'm only planning eight. And at least half of them will be shorter than this one. Still, that's a lot, so I better get cracking!_

_And who else is excited about the Young Justice: Legacy game coming out in the fall? _

* * *

**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:  
**

Step 8: Motivations

Characters are not real people. This is an unfortunate but important fact. However, a well-written character can fool the audience into "thinking" that they are real through the Willing Suspension of Disbelief. In order for this to work, the characters must act like real people. And the easiest way to do that is to give them understandable motivations.

A motivation is something that a character ways. And they generally want it a far amount, or at least enough that they're willing to do things (often risky things) to try and achieve it. Motives can be simple (REVENGE!), complex (I need to make up for my own personal inadequacies and prove my self-worth by degrading others), material (money) or abstract (justice!). All characters have to have motivation to some extent, or they wouldn't ever do ANYTHING. You can experiment around with different motivations to make characters react in different ways. For example, most superheros to the job because they want to help people or avenge a loved one lost to crime. But what if you had a team of heroes that included a psychopath who just wants to beat people up and became a superhero because he won't get arrested for it? Then you've got conflict with other members of the team who are idealists, inner conflict if the character slowly wants to become a real hero or has to deal with the temptations of villainy, and it's not a super-common cliched idea, which is always very important.

The most important thing regarding motivations, however, is consistency. A character's motivations can change over time, but only through character development or changing circumstances. If they have a different one every time they appear on screen, your story will devolve into a jumbled mess. It's okay to have a villain swear vengeance upon a person for beating them in a junior high spelling bee if it fits their personality, even though that is not a realistic motivation. However, if that villain goes around robing banks or trying to take over the world or other things which don't help in revenge, then you're being an inconsistent writer. As with almost everything I've mentioned in HTBaAA/EM, you can get away with this, but only if you intentionally do it for a good reason. Otherwise, you're just sabotaging yourself.

TEN WORDS OR LESS SUMMARY: Know why characters do things, and stick to it.


	51. BREC-I

**DISCLAIMER:** Yes! Yes! In accordance with my evil plan I have finally obtained ownership of _Young Justice_! THE WORLD IS MIIIIINE!

Chapter 51: B.R.E.C.-I.

Robin tumbled forwards onto a hard floor, followed a second later by his best friend, who, of course, landed on top of him.

Wally groaned as they got to their feet. Only then did he look up and immediately wished he hadn't.

They were in a large room of some sort, made of darker grey concrete than wherever they'd been. And they weren't alone. Twenty other people were present including such welcoming faces as Sportsmaster, Cheshire, Black Manta, Mr. Freeze, Zatanna (in new, evil-colored threads, no less) a weak-looking Psimon and a dozen other guys, many of whom had very dangerous-looking guns. The others seemed stunned at the new arrivals for a second, but quickly recovered and pointed their various weapons at the two boys.

From the shadows, the infamous jar-shape of the Brain appeared, flanked by his gorilla lackey.

"It seems we have intruders" Brain said. "Please, if you all would deal with them."

"Uh, Rob?" whispered Wally as his friend slowly got to his feet.

"Yeah?"

"I totally blame you for this."

* * *

**Belle Reve**

**December 28, 11:34 CDT**

"And, here we are" said Hugo Strange, gesturing to a solid steel door sticking out of a thick concrete wall. Painted in red above were the words "Belle Reve Extreme Containment—Isolation."

The Flash rolled his eyes at the warden's theatrics. "Stop stalling" said the speedster. "Stalling?" replied Strange, nodding to a nearby guard and placing his eye in front of a retinal scanner. "I have no idea what you mean. I am merely following protocol. After all, the Justice League may have a charter from the United Nations, but the U.S. government is under no obligation to allow you access to maximum security inmates. It is only because I wish to convince you that you are mistaken that I am bending the rules as much as I am. After all, the sooner we can determine why you continue to believe that prisoners are escaping, the sooner we can put a stop to it and I can get back to doing my job."

Flash suppressed a scowl but said nothing. They had no evidence of wrongdoing on Strange's part, but between the Ice Fortresses, Professor Ivo's appearance in New Orleans and now Mr. Freeze again, there was just too much of a coincidence. And that's why he was here instead of running off to help Bats get Wally back.

There was an electronic beep as the retinal scan was approved and the four-ton door slid into the wall.

"This is the only way in or out of E.C.-I." Strange said as they stepped into a short hall. "Any other way would require pounding through over thirty feet of concrete or slipping through filtered air vents the size of rats. And we keep an electric current running through those just in case." The door closed behind them and the hall darkened. Beams of all frequencies of electromagnetic radiation washed over them, scanning for hidden weapons. Seeing that they were clean, another guard in a bullet-proof glass box waved them through into another hallway. This one was lined by smaller steel doors, each of which had a control panel and a television monitor mounted next to it.

"Even during the riot in September," Strange continued in full tour-guide mode "our boys in Extreme Containment were able to seal it off and keep its prisoners under control. Which is good, since its sole purpose is to hold the inmates too powerful or dangerous for the general population."

Flash nodded, glancing at the cell to his right. From the outside, it looked like a bank vault with a series of odd glowing runes stuck to it. The screen revealed its contents, however: Wotan the Sorcerer, quietly meditating on the floor, inhibitor collar clasped around his neck.

"All of our magic-wielding prisoners are down that hallway" said Strange. "We'd prefer if we didn't have to have them all in one area, but this wing is coated in magic disrupting charms provided by your Zatara and all locks and hinges are made of Nth metal, which, if I understand correctly, disrupts magic as well. Can't take any chances, can we?"

Flash shook his head. He hated evil magicians, he really did. The only bad guys more annoying were those that didn't even have magic, like Abra Kadabra.

"Say, how is Zatara?" asked Strange. "He was quite helpful in developing our magical containment procedures and I haven't seen anything about him on the news lately."

Flash scowled slightly. "He's on leave. Family… business."

"Ah, of course. How rude of me to ask. I wish him the best. Now, on your left, you will see another member of the Infamous Injustice League. We have them all here, save Joker and Dr. Isley, who are at Arkham. I hear that your protégé Kid Flash was the reason we were able to take Count Vertigo into custody. Very impressive."

Flash grunted a response as he glanced at the monitor Strange had pointed at. It showed a tan man with raven-colored hair staring at the wall, which was coated in some shiny material. He was clearly a prisoner, given the orange jumpsuit and inhibitor collar, but he didn't look that dangerous. It took Flash a minute to realize just who it was.

"Black Adam" he muttered. Black Adam was basically an 'evil counterpart' to Captain Marvel, down to getting his powers by saying "Shazam" and being hit by lightning.

"Very good. Tet-Adam is actually a model prisoner, and I have high hopes for his rehabilitation. Normally we would be able to release him into the general population, but his power to summon his, er, 'magic lightning,' for lack of a better term, means he is at constant risk of escaping his inhibitor collar. We've been able to insulate his cell, but taking him anywhere else would be quite a risk."

"Right" said Flash. "Say, could we maybe, I don't know, check on the prisoner I asked about over an hour ago? Or are you going to keep trying to buy yourself more time?"

"I merely try to be polite and look where it gets me" said Strange, more to himself than Flash, throwing up his hands in an overly dramatic way. "Very well. Let us see if Prisoner #3280 is still in his cell, like he was this morning."

They walked the next minute in silence before reaching the cell.

"There" said Strange, pointing to the monitor. "Satisfied?"

Sure enough, one Mr. Freeze was sitting inside the cell, playing chess with himself.

"No way" said Flash. "If I was going to go away that easily, I wouldn't have walked all the way down here."

"Of course" replied the warden. "I expected nothing less." He walked over to the control panel and entered a code into a keypad.

"This is Warden Strange" he said to an image of a guard that had appeared on a tiny screen on the panel. "I need you to open cell ECI-211 for me."

"Uh, roger that, Warden" the guard replied. "Do you need support?"

"Not at all. I have every confidence in our systems, especially since I have a member of the Justice League with me. Open the door."

There was a loud buzzing noise and the door slid back, revealing the prisoner.

Mr. Freeze looked different than he had before. No longer did he wear a modified version of his cryosuit to keep him alive, like he had in General Population. He'd proven before that that could be used as a weapon when he'd taken Amanda Waller hostage. Now that he had his own cell in solitary, they simply gave him a normal jumpsuit and chilled the room. Ultimate security. The prisoner couldn't leave without killing himself. Not necessarily the most ethical decision, but hey, that's what you get after you kidnap the Warden of a supermax prison.

"Ah, visitors" he said, turning to face them. A wall of cold-resistant plexiglass separated him from Strange and the Flash but they both shivered slightly, both at his glare and the temperature of the air.

"Hello, Victor" said Strange. "This man has a few questions for you, if you wouldn't mind answering."

"Well, if it isn't a member of the Justice League" Freeze said, his voice suitably unimpressed. "The Flish, correct?"

"The Flash" the speedster muttered.

"Well, whatever it is you came for, it can't be too important, seeing as Batman sent an errand-boy instead of doing it himself. Considering what he did to Nora, I don't blame him for not wanting to get within a mile of me."

"Now, now, Victor" said Strange. "You and I both know that your wife's death was no one's fault but your own. And it certainly was not Batman's."

Freeze slammed a fist on the table, knocking over several of the chess pieces, but he said nothing.

"You have been in your cell for the past forty-eight hours, correct?" asked Flash, hoping for a subject change.

"No" said Freeze, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I left yesterday to have tea with the President before he gave me a personal tour of Fort Knox."

"Well, a reliable source claims that they saw you at Cape Chidley in Canada last night."

"Then your source is not as reliable as you believe" Freeze replied. "This is the second time that I have been unjustly accused of escaping this facility. I am growing tired of it, as are my attorneys."

"Not counting the one time you _did _escape custody here, of course" added Strange. Freeze growled but said nothing.

"Any other questions?" he asked, turning back towards his board and putting pieces back in place.

Flash glared at him but said nothing.

"Well then, I'm sure you can show yourselves out" Freeze said, waving his hand dismissively.

"See?" said Strange as they exited the Extreme Containment wing a few minutes later. "Freeze is here. If you so desire, you may watch the hours and hours of security footage we have, proving that he was here and not in Canada. You may interview the guards if you really see the need. But as warden of Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary, I can say with complete certainty that the Mr. Freeze your source encountered was either imaginary or an imposter."

"Or perhaps the imposter is here, taking the place of the real one" said Flash.

"I suppose this means you're going to want use to take his fingerprints and DNA, aren't you?" said Strange. Flash nodded.

"Very well. Jacobs!" Strange said, motioning for a nearby guard to come over.

"Yes sir?" asked Jacobs.

"Take this man to the security archives room and let him watch everything from the past week in E.C.-I."

"Sir, are you sure that's…"

"Yes. I'm sure. Then take him over to Tawlry and confirm that Prisoner #3280 is who we think he is. I'm going to have to go back to my office to do paperwork. I am still allowed to do my job, aren't I, Mr. Flash?"

The speedster grumbled. "Sure. Whatever. But remember, if you're up to something…"

"The League will take me down?" Strange finished, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "I believe that I know how far your influence extends. Pray that you don't overreach."

Flash gave a 'whatever' shrug and followed the guard out of the room. Strange sighed and entered his office, where a hooded figure in a brown cloak was waiting.

"He suspects nothing?" the figure asked.

"Well, he suspects the 'what' but not the 'how'" Strange replied, turning his attention to the set of private security monitors the cloaked guest had been watching. One screen was entirely devoted to following Flash as he and a guard moved towards the archives.

"The more they focus on Freeze, the less likely they are to realize who's truly missing" Strange said. "But this is it. After this, we need to keep it clean. Otherwise we risk the entire prison."

"The Light do not necessarily share your sentiments" said the figure. "But then again, it's not really their necks on the line, is it? I wouldn't worry too much. The League is chasing its own tail. However, I am told that you are to prepare Lifeboat Protocol, just in case things unravel faster than we anticipate."

"Of course."

"Good" said the figure, gazing at another screen, containing the image of Black Adam. "Operation Alcatraz begins tomorrow. After that, the League won't be a problem anymore. Keep it together until then, and you'll be fine."

Strange forced himself to smile.

"Of course."

* * *

_Okay guys. Kamil the Awesome, being the, well, awesome guy that he is, has suggested that I attempt to get out 52 chapters of this fic by the one-year anniversary. Not only is 52 an extremely important number in the DC universe, but it also means that despite going months without updating, I'll still have averaged 1 chapter a week._

_The good news is that if you're reading this, I've hit 51 chapters already. The bad news is that the anniversary is on Wednesday. So, the million-dollar question is: Can I write another chapter in two days?_

The hilarious thing is that if I do manage to pull it off (no promises but I think I've got a good shot) you're all going to totally hate me. Again. Oh, yes, Chapter 52 is one of **those** chapters. No, not THAT chapter. No, or that one. Not that bad. But it's still, well, let's just say I'm going to be fruit-army proofing my house again. Just trust me on this, okay?

Heh, heh, heh, heh... Muhahahaha!

* * *

**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND:**

Step 9: Setting

So, you've got some three-dimensional characters with flaws and consistent motivations. You've got a bunch of evil villains with an evil plan of evilness and some other guys ready to stop them. You've got a plot and everything.

Great. Now where does this take place?

One of the three things all stories literally must have in order to function which I foolishly forgot to mention until this point is a setting (the other two are plot and characters). The action doesn't just happen in a white void. Or maybe it does. If so, that's still a setting.

Characters have to live in a world. It doesn't have to be like ours, and it doesn't even have to be all that well thought out. But it has to exist, and you are going to have to describe it. Maybe not a lot, but you're going to need to give your audience some idea of what time period it is and whether or not this takes place on an Earth we'd recognize or someplace else entirely.

One of the things about writing well is that you're going to have to create more stuff than you write. There's simply no way to tell your audience all the stuff you need to come up with for a solid story, and a lot of it's probably boring. Worldbuilding can be like this. Some people really enjoy it and will create entire universes for the lolz. Other people hate it and only do what they feel is necessary in order to write the story they want to tell. You can create the setting in order to allow your plot and characters to do what you want them to do, or you can make a world and then ask yourself what stories could occur in it. Any of these methods will work, but all of them require you thinking about what's going on in the background in the stuff nobody cares about. In this case, your job is like that of a movie special-effects artist: Your success is measured by how little the audience notices your work. Because if you screw up world-building, they will notice, and it will annoy them. And you never want to annoy your audience, especially when they're paying you. (Or have armies of sentient fruit to send after you.)

In this chapter, I did some worldbuilding about Belle Reve, which was seen once, mentioned a few times and not really explored. I really liked that the _Young Justice_ universe had a supervillain prison that was actually doing its job and keeping inmates IN. The idea of Extreme Containment-Isolation developed out of that, and I put what I thought the prison system would have to do in order to contain, say, magic-wielding guys.

TEN WORD OR LESS SUMMARY: Story happens someplace. Don't get lazy on the "place."


	52. A Very Bad Day

**DISCLAIMER**: Woohoo! *balloons fall from ceiling* If you're wondering what the partying is about, I'm celebrating one full year of not owning _Young Justice_. This job rocks!

Chapter 52: A Very Bad Day…

**Mt. Justice**

**December 28, 15:16 EST**

The quiet of the Cave's briefing room was interrupted by a golden ankh which materialized in the center. A second later, Aqualad, Red Arrow, Artemis, Rocket, M'gann, Superboy, Black Canary, Red Tornado and Wolf emerged from the ankh, which then faded away.

Rocket let out a little sigh of relief. Magical transport was _very_ different from zeta beam transport, and she'd only ever done that once anyways. She had to admit, for a while there she hadn't thought she'd ever see Mt. Justice again, either due to untimely death, imprisonment by supervillains or being fired. She never thought she'd miss a place she'd first been to a day and a half ago, and yet it had been almost twenty-four hours since they'd left the Cave for their 'simple recon mission.'

"It is good to be back" Kaldur said. "Though we are still incomplete."

Fate had been furious that Zatanna was not only missing, but apparently possessed by an evil Lord of Chaos. Artemis had been half-afraid he'd send them back with their organs twisted or something.

_Not really how the mission was supposed to go_ she thought.

Batman had taken the loss of Robin in silence, as he did everything. However, he was now _personally_ leading the investigation of "Aguila Base" as one of the guards had called it. Most of the League was either helping with that or heading back to the Watchtower or Hall of Justice. Evil conspiracy or not, there were still going to be random supervillains doing random supervillainy and the League's public image required them to have rapid response times.

"Rocket, Red Arrow, Aqualad, Artemis, if you would all please follow me to the medical bay?" asked Red Tornado. "Batman has requested that I provide an immediate physical examination to ensure that you are free of any injuries."

The four looked at each other and shrugged. It's not like a checkup was the worst thing that had happened to them that day.

Wolf went over into a corner and lay down, continuing to gnaw on a MONQI arm it had obtained earlier. M'gann and Conner turned to head towards their rooms.

"Not so fast" said Black Canary. "You two. Counseling. Now."

Conner started to protest, but decided against it mid-word. One, he did _not_ want to take on Canary, not when she had that look, and two, if he and M'gann were going to come clean about their secrets (_which they were),_ they might as well start with Canary.

M'gann glanced at the ground as if she had guessed what he was thinking, but she said nothing as they followed Canary out of the room.

* * *

Half an hour later and Red Tornado had finished cataloging the various bruises, cuts, burns and electrocution marks that the Team had managed to obtain. Roy had glared in Rocket's direction as he described how he'd been knocked into an electric fence, but resisted naming names for the moment.

"I see nothing which would force any of you off of active duty" the android said, "though I would recommend that Aqualad and Red Arrow refrain from more... strenuous activities for the next few days if possible."

"Not likely" Roy muttered.

"If you're done" said Artemis, "I'm gonna go hit the showers. Hard."

She walked out into the hall and took a left.

"Are the showers not that way?" asked Tornado, pointing to the right.

"Yeah, but I need to go by my room first, and it's this way, tin man" she said, disappearing.

Roy rolled his eyes. Like she'd been through half of what they had with her cushy 'fake mole' thing. He'd been knocked out, first by a kick to the face _by Artemis_ and then by electrocution.

_Eh, give it a rest, Roy_ he told himself. _You've got bigger problems at the moment._

"Kaldur" he said, grabbing Aqualad's shoulder. "A moment?"

The Atlantean nodded and they stepped aside.

"I should probably call my mom and Icon" Rocket said. "I bet they're worried sick." _And I'm going to have to tell Icon about how I both broke and lost the belt... Awesome._

"What is the matter?" Kaldur asked.

"We've still got a mole problem" Roy said. "Artemis talked with Wally and I back in Spain. She thinks there's another mole on the Team."

"Impossible" Kaldur whispered.

"Well, if Artemis is an undercover plant working for our side, then that still leaves the question of Sportsmaster's source he talked about in September."

"I thought that we had established that he was merely spreading disinformation" replied Kaldur.

"That was before last night" Roy snapped. "Between the Bioship, and Wally being poisoned, and whatever happened with Zatanna, it's clear that they've got something or someone on the inside. It can't be you, me, Robin or Wally."

"And why are you so certain of that?" asked Kaldur.

"Look, I know I can't be the mole, and I've known you three for years. There's no reason that I can think of that any of you could be flipped."

Kaldur took a deep breath. _Father..._

"Rocket and Zatanna are too new, and Robin said that Rocket only turned on me under Psimon's control, which I guess I can understand, since he made me put Wally in a headlock. If Artemis is out, that leaves M'gann and Superboy. The two people who's origins we know the least about. I'd say to start, we should..."

"Stop." Roy literally flinched in surprise at the Atlantean's calm but cold tone.

Kaldur looked Roy straight in the eye.

"You may be older than us, and will likely only be a part of this team for the few days until you officially join the League, but until then, I am team leader. I will investigate as necessary, but for the moment, you are merely throwing suspicion on anyone you can. That will lead to nothing but paranoia and infighting, which this team cannot afford. We still have three members missing, including two of my oldest friends on the surface. We cannot risk ripping the Team apart while they are still out there. If you have any further suspicions, please bring them up with myself or Batman, but do not act on them without our permission. Is that clear, my friend?"

Roy took a deep breath and bit his lip, like he was fighting back the urge to respond in anger.

"Crystal" he finally said.

* * *

"So, who wants to go first?" Black Canary asked. M'gann looked uncomfortably at Conner, who stepped forwards.

"Uh, actually, if you didn't mind, we'd like to do this together" he said.

"That's hardly good psychological procedure" Canary said.

"It's very important" Conner replied. "We've got something we need to tell you. Both of us."

M'gann nodded weakly, like she'd rather be anywhere on (or preferably off) the planet.

Conner took her hand and squeezed it, giving her one of those 'everything will be okay' smiles he so rarely broke out.

"Does this concern certain biological functions which are perfectly normal in teenagers?" Canary asked. Granted, _neither of you are anything close to typical teenagers_ she thought, but did not say.

The two teens looked at each other.

"Sort of" said M'gann. "Not really" said Conner at the same time.

"Well," said Canary, sighing and gesturing for them to enter what was unofficially the 'Shrink Room,' silently hoping this was _not_ what she was afraid it was. "Don't keep me waiting."

* * *

When Roy and Kaldur returned to the medical bay, Red Tornado had opened a holo-screen to Batman and explained his assessment of the Team's various injuries.

"Wonder Woman has confirmed that the men we captured at Cape Chidley do in fact have amnesia about the events of last night and their employers" the Dark Knight said. "The only connection the Canadians have been able to get so far is that several of them are known associates of Sportsmaster, which doesn't help us in the slightest."

"And the base in Spain?" the android asked.

"We've confirmed that it did belong to the Spanish military for a number of years before being decommissioned as part of budget cuts. It looks like the latest tenets had only set up shop here a month or two ago. There is evidence that plans matching those seen fleeing Cape Chidley landed here, but they were long gone by the time we arrived."

"What about the teleportation technology they used to escape?" asked Kaldur. "I have never seen such a portal. It lacked a platform and yet I sensed no magic from it."

"The Lanterns' rings have been picking up some odd radiation, matching the energy signature we detected over Bialya before your first mission there" Batman replied. "They tried to run a search through the Green Lantern Corps' database, but this particular information has been flagged as 'confidential.' I've sent one of them to Oa to get to the bottom of it."

"This appears similar to the portal technology wielded by Superboy's friends the Forever People and their enemies, the Apokoliptans" Aqualad said.

Batman frowned. "That would make sense, given the Apokoliptan weaponry we confiscated in Canada. But the presence of alien influences means that we must resolve this situation as soon as possible."

"What about our other leads?" asked Roy. "I heard something about Mr. Freeze?"

"Superboy and Miss Martian battled Mr. Freeze in Cape Chidley" Batman said.

"And I believe I saw him freezing the door to the portal room in Spain" said Kaldur.

"Victor Fries is supposedly incarcerated in isolation at Belle Reve Penitentiary" said Red Tornado. "Yet it appears he is not."

"Actually, he is" said Flash, appearing in a new box in the corner of the screen. "We ran fingerprints, DNA, retinal scan, everything. Freeze is still in Belle Reve."

"Obviously he teleported from Spain and then took his place back in his cell" said Roy. "After all, you do believe the Warden has been compromised, haven't you?"

"This wouldn't be the first time we've accused Freeze of breaking out in secret" said Flash. "After all, we suspect his involvement in the Ice Fortress Incident. But I've got bad news for you all. I saw Freeze with my own eyes _between_ when he was seen at Cape Chidley and when you saw him in Spain."

"What of Professor Ivo?" asked Kaldur. "Technology bearing his signature was present in both Canada and Spain."

"Ivo's still here too" said Flash. "But he wouldn't need to leave for someone to be able to make use of his designs. Especially since has Artemis seen him in New Orleans over a week ago. He could have simply made the toys at another time."

"Speaking of which" said Roy. "Your undercover operation sure flunked, didn't it?"

"What undercover operation?" Batman asked.

"Don't play dumb with us" said Roy. "The one where Artemis pretended to betray the Team in order to infiltrate the bad guys."

Batman frowned. "I never authorized an operation like that."

Kaldur and Roy's eyes both widened at the exact same time.

"But Artemis said…"

"Hey, guys?" said Rocket, wandering back into the med bay. "Have you seen Artemis? She wasn't in her room or the bathroom."

Suddenly, red emergency lights began flashing as an alarm bell rung out. "Warning" said the computer. "Virus detected." Batman's holo-screen glitched and flickered off.

Roy turned around and dashed towards the Mission Room.

"Oh she did not…!"

* * *

"Okay" said Black Canary. "Enough putting it off. What is so important?"

"Well, uh," M'gann stumbled for the best way to start, a task not made easier by her extreme desire to not start at all.

"Perhaps you should begin at the beginning" said Canary.

"I'll go first" said Conner. "Around Thanksgiving, I went back to Cadmus. While I was there, I..."

Alarms blared as red lights began to flash.

"Oh what now?" asked Canary, as if her day didn't demand a big enough drink as it was.

* * *

Roy, Kaldur, Rocket and Red Tornado sprinted (well, Tornado hovered) into the Mission Room to see Artemis on the other side, unplugging a USB cord and slipping it back into a wrist computer hidden in her sleeve.

"Oh, hey guys" she said before a tiny crossbow appeared in her hands. The bolt hurtled forwards and struck the ground in front of them, exploding.

"TRAITOR!" Roy shouted, coughing on smoke.

"Blah, blah, blah. You never do shut up, do you?" Artemis asked, sprinting towards the nearest zeta tube.

"Computer, shut down all zeta tubes!" Roy cried. "Code Red Arrow B06!"

"Acknowledged" the computer replied. "Shutting… shutting… shuttinginginginging… Recognize: Artemis B07."

Roy emerged from the smoke just in time to see Artemis standing in the teleporter. She blew him a kiss as she dissolved into light.

"Warning! Warning! Virus detected. Security systems failing." The computer continued to say. Suddenly, a burst of static filled the intercoms.

"Lockdown initiated" said the computer as the static cleared.

Roy reached the zeta tube panel only for it to short out with a zap! A second later, both zeta tubes did the same. All across the mountain, heavy steel doors slammed down, sealing them in.

"Perfect" Roy grumbled as he slammed a fist into the side of the useless teleporter. "Just. Perfect."

"What happened?" asked Black Canary, running into the room, M'gann, and Conner right behind her. The others tried to say something, but none of them could find the words.

Roy, however, had no such problem

"Artemis betrayed us! Again!" he shouted. "How could we be so stupid?"

"Artemis?" gasped Conner and M'gann simultaneously.

"How… why would she…?" stuttered the Martian.

Canary stamped a foot on the ground in anger. "It can't be…"

"It would appear indeed to be the case" said Red Tornado.

"It is" said Roy. "Trust us. We've seen it with our own eyes. Twice."

"Be calm, old friend" Kaldur said, placing a hand on Roy's shoulder. "We will find Artemis, and we will determine the truth of what has transpired. But for now, we should attempt to contact Batman. It is fortunate that the deception was discovered before significant damage was inflicted."

"Warning!" said the computer. "Intruders detected. All defense systems enabled. Self-destruct protocol initiated."

For a second, everything was silent save the buzzing of an alarm klaxon. Finally, Rocket broke the silence.

"You just _had_ to say it, didn't you?"

* * *

_Bet ya didn't see that one coming!_

_Happy 1-Year Anniversary everyone! And what better way to celebrate than to make you all remember why you hate and yet at the same time cannot stop loving this fic?_

_You're welcome._

* * *

**HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR/EVIL MASTERMIND**:

Evil Plans

I realized a few days ago that while all the advice I was giving out in my other HTBAA/EM segments was true, it probably wasn't very much you didn't already know. So now that I've gotten the basics of stories out of the way, I'm going to try and get into some things that are harder for some people, and that pop up a lot in my writing and stories like this in general.

Today's subject is evil plans. As I have mentioned before, good villains with understandable motivations are one effective way to good stories. However, coming up with specifics can be tricky. The easiest way to work on evil plans is to put yourself in the villain's place. You know what they want, and you know roughly what they are capable of and what their resources are. So if you were this person, how would you go about trying to succeed in this goal?

However, the author has an even more difficult challenge than the villain for two reasons. One, you need to write a story that has a villain. This means that you can't have the villain simply achieve their goal through legal, ethical means. The best way to avoid this problem is either to make a goal that can't be done legally (revenge, taking over the world) or to make the character the type of person who breaks the law easier because it's simpler, it's more fun or they're just plain crazy.

The other hard part is that you have to make sure that the plan can be defeated by the heroes. That means it can't be a perfect invincible plan. At the same time, you don't want to leave huge glaring blind spots in the villain's plans, as that will just make them look stupid and unmenacing, which will destroy whatever suspense and conflict you've built up so far.

Personally, I tend to create villainous plans and then work out how the heroes beat them. I try to avoid putting any obvious weaknesses in the plans, as part of my personal doctrine of "Smart Villains, Clever Heroes". I feel that the best response to an intelligent, competent villain is a hero who can beat them at their own game, on their own terms.

In terms of this fic, I obviously can't fully explain to you how I came up with the entire evil plan of the Light, since the story's not finished yet, but I can give one easy example of thinking like the villain. The reason Zatanna was taken out by the nanotech poison was because I realized that she was the most dangerous member of the Team from the Light's point of view, and so they wanted to get rid of her ASAP.

TEN WORDS OR LESS SUMMARY: In order to write evil, you must think evil


	53. Gets Worse

**DISCLAIMER**: According to ancient prophecies, the day I obtain ownership of _Young Justice_ is the day Earth explodes. So the question is: Is owning _Young Justice_ for half a day worth destroying the world? Such a dilemma...

Chapter 53: ...Gets Worse

"How fast can you run?" Robin whispered to Kid Flash, tensing for a fight. Which, based on the twenty-to-two odds, seemed like it would end very painfully.

"Not nearly fast enough to take them all out" the speedster whispered back.

"We don't need to take them out" Robin replied with a smile, giving a nod towards the door a mere twenty feet of supervillains away. He turned to the crowd.

"We surrender" he said, putting up his hands.

Kid Flash stared at him in complete and utter shock for a second before he too put up his hands. Robin knew what he was doing, right?

Right?

"Forgive me if I don't believe that Batman's little pet would give up without a fight" said Sportsmaster, twirling his flail.

Robin smiled. "You're forgiven" he said, dropping to one knee and sweeping two gun-wielding goons' legs out from under them. Sportsmaster's flail lashed out, but merely struck where Robin had been as he shot forwards and slammed into another goon. Before the man's shotgun had hit the ground, Robin had grabbed it and struck the trigger with his finger, firing it straight up into the ceiling. The pellets struck a sprinkler which burst, sending water pouring onto the people below. That technically broke the famous Batman no-gun rule, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Move!" he shouted to Kid Flash, swinging the shotgun at Cheshire like a club and giving Tala her third Robin-special kick to the face that day. He really hoped Zatanna didn't come out of this with brain damage.

The speedster didn't argue, dashing (at regretfully human speeds) around Sportsmaster, who was distracted by Robin.

Cheshire knocked the shotgun out of the Boy Wonder's hand, but he backflipped over her and ran for the door. The sprinkler had left the villains confused and disorganized, for a few seconds, at least. They were actually going to-

Brain's gorilla blocked the door. His fur and beret were soaking wet, and he did not look happy.

_Crap_.

"You will not esca-" the criminal master'mind' began, only to be interrupted as Robin shoved him into Mullah. The ape instinctively reached to catch his master before he fell to the ground, allowing Robin to flip over him, kick open the door and go through. As Mullah turned to pursue, Kid Flash slid between his legs, using the water on the floor to increase his distance. As soon as they were both through, Robin slammed the door and kicked the lock, twisting and jamming it, at least for a few seconds.

"Now what?" asked the speedster.

"Now we run like crazy" Robin replied.

They did so.

* * *

**Berlin**

**December 28, 16:04 CET**

"Recognize Artemis B07."

A flash of golden light filled the alley before an old telephone booth opened and Artemis Crock stepped out. She'd take off her mask and tossed on a trench coat to cover her uniform. The last thing she needed was the German media getting a bunch of pictures of her on the news.

Across the street was a white sedan, where a man with brown sideburns and a green suit was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, impatient.

"Well, look who it is. Sportsy's little girl" said the Riddler as Artemis got in. "Bonjour madam."

"You know we're not in France, right?" said Artemis.

"I know" said the Riddler as he pulled out of his parking space. "I just love saying it. Ready to meet ol' pops again?"

Artemis sighed. "Might as well."

* * *

The door lasted six entire seconds before it crumpled, which was a credit to its builders, seeing as a pissed off gorilla in a hat was pounding on it.

The hallway was empty, though footfalls echoed down it.

"Find them!" Brain said as loudly as his synthesizer would allow. "They cannot be allowed to wreck this facility! Termination is approved!"

Mullah charged down the hallway in pursuit, followed by Black Manta, Sportsmaster and most of his men. Cheshire took a moment to shake the water out of her hair before she followed, leaving Tala, Kuttler and Mr. Freeze standing by the Brain.

"I have had quite enough of these pests" Tala said, muttering a spell to dry out her clothes. "_Wohs em erehw nibor dna dik hsalf era!_"

Her eyes glowed red and she smiled.

"They can't hide from me" she said.

"Good" said the Brain. "Ensure that they are eliminated post-haste." Tala muttered something but started to run down the hallway regardless. She _was_ looking forward to killing that brat Robin, after all.

"Mr. Kuttler, Dr. Fries, if you would come with me" the Brain continued, slowly moving down the hall using the wheels built into his capsule. "I wish to make certain that all systems are operating at 100% capacity. It would not do to delay our associates any further. And, doctor, it would be wise if you tended to our new...guest."

Freeze grunted but followed, wheeling a black cryo-coffin and muttering to himself. It was probably fortunate that the Bat-brat and his friend Flash Jr. had overlooked the box during their escape. Not that it would matter in a few minutes, after they died their much-deserved deaths. Perhaps he would send Batman flowers in consolation?

"Whatever you say" Kuttler said, letting out a small sigh as he, too, followed the Brain.

_I am not going to get time off any time soon, am I?_

* * *

"Nice escape" Wally said as he and Robin continued to sprint down the maze of hallways. Why did these people's bases have so many frickin' hallways?

"Thanks" Robin replied as they took a left into, guess what, another hallway. "Sorry I dragged you here."

"Literally, no less" Wally said. They chuckled, then were silent for a few seconds.

"You used a gun back there" Wally said.

"I know."

"Batman doesn't-"

"I know. I did what I had to do. He'll understand."

"If you say so" said the speedster. "What are our objectives?"

"First objective is to contact the League for backup. This is a major base, and taking it is the only way we'll have any chance of figuring out who these guys are and what they're up to. Then escaping and collecting as much intel as we can about whatever this place is. Rescuing Zatanna would be a nice bonus."

"Oh, yeah. Since when did she become evil?" Wally asked as they took a right. He really hoped they weren't going in circles.

"She's. Not. Evil." Robin retorted. "She's being possessed by a Lord of Chaos. We need to get her secured and to Doctor Fate as soon as possible."

"First thing's first" Wally said. "I love running away from bad guys more than you do, but don't you think we need a plan?"

"You're right" said Robin, skidding to a stop. "If we keep this up, they're going to catch us. They've got surveillance cameras all over this place and they have the numbers to surround and pummel us. We've got to be smart about this."

"Do you think we could do what we did at Cadmus?" Wally asked. "Hack the motion sensors and all that?"

"I wish" Robin replied. "They took my wrist computer, plus all my other gadgets. We're down to our hands, feet and heads."

"Wonderful" Wally muttered. It was at that moment that he realized that Artemis was totally going to kill him if the angry mob of supervillains didn't.

"Although..." Robin said, trailing off as he bent down to examine a grate in the wall. "Maybe we could do something a bit similar..."

Robin grabbed the side of the grating and pulled. It budged a little bit, but he wasn't strong enough to rip it loose. Looking around, he took a small fire extinguisher off the wall (that's OSHA compliance, all right!) and struck the corner of the grate several times, bending it back. Together, both boys grabbed onto the edge and slowly peeled it away, revealing a long tube full of wiring.

"This looks like a power conduit of some sort" Wally said. "Do you think we can fit in there?"

Robin stuck his head inside. There was actually a fair amount of space, and the wiring looked insulated, so it wouldn't kill them on contact. Best of all, there was no way a grown man could follow them through there.

"Let's find out" he said, slipping inside. On a whim, he kept the fire extinguisher, in case he had to hit someone with something in the near future. Which seemed likely.

The boys were forced to bend over and crawl in the cramped space of the duct, but crawl they did. The grate was too damaged to convincingly replace, so they just decided to concentrate on getting as much distance in as possible between them and the bunch of angry footsteps approaching. Robin doubted anything they could have done would fool Sportsmaster for more than two seconds anyways.

As it happened, he was wrong.

It took Sportsmaster three seconds to put all the pieces together. It had been a really tiring day, and he'd gotten a mere three hours of sleep on their trans-Atlantic flight to Aguila.

The mercenary swore and punched the wall as soon as he had determined that no, he was too bulky to fit in there. And he was _not_ going to risk getting stuck in a vent in front of the Light, Manta or Jade.

Speaking of which...

"Jade, get in there" Sportsmaster said. "Follow them."

Cheshire started to protest to taking orders from her dad but she realized that a) He was correct in assuming that she was the only one there who could fit and b) He was technically in charge, and Ra's al Ghul would be none to pleased to learn that she had disobeyed a reasonable order from a client. She sighed and moving into the duct.

These two boys may have been Artemis's friends at one point, but that was no reason to go easy on them. They were targets now.

And she always got her targets.

Always.

* * *

___ nat-attack4: "POW" stands for "Prisoners of War". It's a pretty common expression. And you don't like parts of my story? Fine. As every poorly-written fanfiction has said ever:  
_

___"DONT LIEK, DONT REED!" (sic)_

___(I'm just kidding. You're supposed to be mad at those parts. I don't want to know how you reacted to the chapter where everyone died, or the one where Robin had to relive his parent's deaths, or dear Lord what you thought of the chapter before this one...)_

___I saw the new "Teen Titans Go!" thing. And I'll admit, it was pretty funny, if moderately disturbing at some points (ahem cannibal pies ahem). The problem is, it's not Young Justice, and it's not even in the Saturday DC Nation block. It's in the middle of the week. And since "Beware the Batman" doesn't start until the summer, I'm at a loss as to how these shows are supposed to replace Young Justice and GL:TAS. They aren't even in the same time slot. _

___I'll admit that I'd be okay if Green Lantern was cancelled. Not that I have anything against it, it was awesome, but it actually ended in a good place. I think if it continued in a third season, it would lessen some of the impact of the ambiguous ending. Young Justice, on the other hand, never resolved its orginal plot point. The Light is still active for the most part, Darkseid's set himself up to be an actual threat (not that we didn't all see that coming) and Kid Flash is MIA (I highly doubt he's supposed to be dead, but that's just me and 98% of the fanbase). Young Justice NEEDED a third season to conclude its story, while GL:TAS really doesn't. But, again, that's just me. Besides, now I get to end my version of the series however I want. Here's a hint: It's going to involve explosions. _

* * *

**How to Be an Awesome Author/Evil Mastermind:**___  
_

Action Sequences

Today I'd like to take about another thing which so many people seem to have difficulty writing, especially in fanfiction: action sequences. By that I don't necessarily mean fight scenes (though there is _quite_ a lot of that). Indiana Jones running away from a giant, suspiciously-round bolder is an action sequence. James Bond jumping out of a plane is an action sequence. Arguably sex scenes (if that's your thing) are action sequences. Unfortunately, writing action sequences is one of those things that can't easily be taught. There's no "right" way to do them, though there are a LOT of wrong ones. However, there are some things which almost all good action sequences have in common, and that's what I'll talk about today.

For the most part, action sequences are a hit-or-miss type of thing. Either you get one right, or you don't, and when you don't, people notice. Like special effects in movies, the best measure of success is that no one notices your hard work. That may sound depressing, but hey, you're the one who decided to be an author.

Action sequences are much harder to do in writing than any other medium except audio-only stories. This is because, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Visual media (comic books, TV, cartoons, movies) can simply show a fight sequence, and the audience will immediately understand what happened. That is not a luxury that writers have. It is because of this difference that the most common mistakes in writing action are made. You see, the most important thing about an action sequence is flow. Since the action is likely happening over the course of a few seconds (in-universe), things move very fast. Unfortunately, it is not effectively possible to write something that literally moves as fast as a video of a sequence does. You just can't read and process information that fast. The mistake a lot of people make is trying to describe every single thing that happens. That's a really bad idea, and the reason is that the excess description will slow down your narrative and kill the tension. The tension dies, you die. (Or, at least, your paycheck does.) So you have to work out a balance between describing everything and describing nothing. You have to figure out how to let the reader know what's going on without boring them or making the scene drag on and on without making any progress. This is one of those things where having a beta-reader is a very good idea. At the very least, set aside your work and return to it later. Then, carefully read it while imagining that you have never read it before, or have any idea what's happening. A reader cannot know anything you did not put down on the page, and it's critical that you do not leave out vital information that seemed obvious to you at the time. However, as fanfiction goes, at least, it seems that saying too much is much more common than saying too little. A good general rule is that if something doesn't add to the sequence (or the story in general) cut it. It's possible to keep something because it's just a really good sentence, but for the most part you need to put the good of the story above all else. That's another thing that most "casual" fanfiction writers fail to understand: The story has its own needs, which may differ from what you want. Maybe a scene you want just won't make any sense, or the story has diverted away from the ending you originally planned. If this is the case, you MUST go with what the story needs. Otherwise you are writing just for yourself. Which, I guess is okay, but you probably shouldn't try to publish it (even here) if it's just a self-insert Mary Sue fix fic. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, but you must be aware that it will be entertaining for you and pretty much no one else. If you want to entertain others, you must follow the story first, the characters second, and your own desires in fourth place, after basic logic and sanity.

Your audience will thank you.


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